Blade of Demon Salvation
by Manu259
Summary: Sometimes, events change that can alter the fate of certain people, for some they may be blessings, for others they may be a curse; one way or the other, they have no choice but to keep moving forward. (AU of Kimetsu no Yaiba. Starts the same but it branches out. SPOILERS for the manga)
1. Chapter 1

**Blade of Demon Salvation**

**Hello and welcome everyone!**

**Well… I'm not sure how to begin but let me give you a quick story lesson about how this fic came to be.**

**I wrote a few one-shots for this fandom and people seemed to enjoy them a lot.**

**Someone even said, and I quote, 'If you see that people love your one shots and then do a second chapter man I bet yea if you make this full length story people will enjoy more of your awesome work'.**

**After hearing (reading?) that and having this idea in the back of my head for a while… well, it's hard to _not_ feel motivated to at least give it a shot.**

**Just to clarify, this fic has NO relation to my previous one-shots, this is an AU of what happens in canon with some personal twists.**

**I mean, there is literally no reason to make a fanfic and write everything the same, right? Go watch the anime/manga for that.**

**In any case, you're not here to read my monologue so without further ado, on with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba.**

**I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

'How did this happen?' A boy with red hair, carrying a girl on his back kept repeating in his head as he walked through the snow.

"Nezuko… don't die, don't die." He begged the girl as he forced his body to take another step. "I will save you, you can't die." He kept saying as tears began to form in his red eyes. "Your big brother will definitely save you!" He declared taking another step in the snow.

* * *

Yesterday.

A red haired boy had just finished placing charcoal in a basket till there was no space for more, then moved his arms through the straps and stood up with the basket on his back. He is wearing a white kimono top with a checkered dark turquoise and black patterned haori over it a blue scarf around his neck, a pair of hanafuda earrings, black baggy pants and boots, he also had a scar on the left side of his forehead.

"Tanjiro!" The boy turned as he heard his name to see a woman coming out of their house, she has purple eyes and black hair and is wearing a white head scarf and a white long sleeve smock on top of a purple and cream checkered kimono.

"Mom?"

"Your face is covered in soot." She says as she wipes her hands on her smock. "Come over here."

Tanjiro does as he is told and approaches his mother as she kneels down in the snow and starts to wipe his face with a handkerchief.

"It's dangerous with all this snow." She says as she continues cleaning her son's face. "You don't have to go, you know."

"I want everyone to eat their fill on New Year's." The boy answers with his eyes closed. "So I'm gonna sell as much charcoal as I can."

"Thank you." His mother says with a smile as she finishes wiping his face.

"Nii-chan!" Someone calls out and the two turn to see a boy and a girl younger than Tanjiro walking towards them.

The girl is wearing a peach kimono tied with a brown obi, with a pink jacket over it, her hair is black and goes down to her shoulders with the fringe right above her eyebrows and her eyes are red like Tanjiro's.

The boy is clearly younger than the girl with the same hair and eye color, his hair is in a buzz cut and is wearing a light green checkered kimono with a jacket of the same color over it.

"You're going to town again today?" The boy asks excitedly.

"I'm going with you!" The girl declares.

From the corner of the house a boy similar to Tanjiro, holding an axe walked by and approached as he heard them talking, he has the same red eyes as the other kids, short spiky black hair, a mole beneath his right eye and is wearing a gray kimono top and a green jacket with baggy pants and boots similar to Tanjiro's and a scarf with the same patter and color as Tanjiro's haori.

"Oh no, you're not." Their mother said at the girl's declaration. "You know you can't walk fast like Tanjiro."

"Mom!" The kid complained.

"You may not." She repeated and walked towards them. "Since he isn't using the cart today, he won't be able to give you a ride when you're tired."

The two siblings pouted for a second before the boy ran towards his brother and hugged him.

"I wanna go with you!" The girl repeated as she moved closer to her older brother. "I promise I'll help you!"

Tanjiro smiled gently and placed a hand on top of her head.

"Thanks, Hanako." The girl, Hanako, smiled widely at his words. "But you're staying home today." Her smile was instantly replaced with a scowl as tears formed in the corner of her eyes.

Tanjiro gently moved his brother away before kneeling to his height and placed his hands on his shoulders.

"You too, Shigeru. But I'll get you tons of goodies, okay?"

"Really?" Shigeru asked with a smile.

"Yeah." The red haired teen confirmed making his younger brother giggle; he then moved his right hand to his sister's head. "And Hanako, I'll read for you when I'm back."

"Okay!" The girl said with a smile.

"That's a good girl."

"Thank you, Tanjiro." Their mother said, her son nodded.

"Okay, I'll be heading out now." Tanjiro said before looking at the boy with the axe. "Takeo, it doesn't matter if it's not much but could you chop some wood?"

"Sure, I'll do it, but…" Takeo trailed off and looked away with a pout. "I was hoping we could do it together."

Tanjiro smiled and approached his younger brother before patting him in the head with one hand.

"There, there."

"What's with that all of a sudden?" The kid said as he swatted the hand away.

"You're blushing, Take-nii!" Shigeru said while pointing at him.

"Sh-shut up!" Takeo yelled, Tanjiro simply patted him again, this time with both hands. "I said cut it out!" He yelled again in embarrassment, while taking a step back earning a laugh from the rest of his family.

Once their laugh subsided, Tanjiro said goodbye again and began to walk away.

"Hurry back, okay?" Shigeru yelled at his brother before waving at him along the rest of his family.

"Be safe, okay?" Hanako yelled.

Tanjiro waved back before looking forward.

.

Not a minute after he began walking he saw a girl walking in the opposite direction.

She is wearing a pink kimono with a star pattern and a white smock on top of it that she is using as a blanket, she has black hair tied in a bun, decorated with pink ribbons and violet eyes.

On her back there is a small kid with the same hair color.

"Onii-chan." She calls out when she sees Tanjiro.

"Hey, Nezuko." He greets her, then looks at the kid sleeping on her back.

"I was putting Rokuta down for a nap, or he'd make a scene when you leave."

'True, he has done that before.'

"He misses Dad a lot after he passed away." She mentions with a sad smile, Tanjiro smiled in a similar way and moved to pat Rokuta's head. "And everyone follows wherever you go." Tanjiro's smile widened a bit before he brought his hand back.

"I have to go now."

"See you later!" Nezuko answered.

* * *

As Tanjiro arrived at the town, the people there greeted him.

"Oh, Tanjiro." The lady that tends to the local inn greeted. "I can't believe you came down from the mountain on a day like this." She said with a smile. "You're such a hard worker! You might catch a cold, you know?"

"This is nothing, really." Tanjiro answered. "Do you need some charcoal?"

"Hey, Tanjiro!" A man called out. "Can I have some charcoal?"

"Thanks for fixing my sliding doors the other day." Another called out.

"I'll need some charcoal, too!" A third one said.

Tanjiro smiled at hearing them all.

'Looks like I'll be able to sell a lot.'

Just as he thought that, someone else called out.

"Tanjiro!" A young man said as he struggled out of the grip of an older woman and approached him, he had a bloody nose, showing that he had been hit. "Oh man, perfect timing!" He kneeled down and showed something wrapped in cloth. "I've been accused of breaking this plate!" He showed it to the red haired boy. "Help me out, will you? Sniff it!"

To any outsider, hearing him say that would have been ridiculous, who would ask a person to 'sniff' something to prove their innocence? To the townsfolk, though, it's a different story.

They learned a long time ago that Tanjiro has an inhuman sense of smell rivaling, and maybe even surpassing any dogs'.

Moving his face closer to the broken plate, Tanjiro sniffed the air a few times before turning to the woman.

"I smell a cat." He said.

"You see?" The man yelled.

"Oh my, so it was a cat?" The woman thought out loud.

"I told you it wasn't me."

.

.

By the time Tanjiro finished selling the charcoal and began walking back home the sun had long since set.

'It's really late.' The red haired kid thought. 'I'm glad they're sold out, though.'

"Hey, Tanjiro!" Someone called out to him as he was about to enter the path of the mountain. "Are you gonna go back to the mountain?" A man with black hair asked from inside his home. "You'd better not, it's too dangerous."

"I've got a great sense of smell, so I'll be fine." He assured the man.

"I'll put you up for the night, come on, get back here." The man insisted.

"But…"

"Don't argue! Come on! Before the demons show up."

Tanjiro took a look at the mountain and back to the man before nodding and walking towards the house.

.

"Thanks for the meal." The red eyed kid said after finishing his meal. "Hey, Saburo-jii-san, what are demons like?"

"Man-eating demons have always prowled the land once it gets dark." Saburo began as he got a spare futon out from the closet. "That's why you should never stroll around at night." He said, putting down the futon on the ground. "If you're done eating, go to bed. You can set off for home at first light."

Nodding, Tanjiro got into the futon as the older man placed another one besides his.

"These demons… they can't go inside houses?" Tanjiro asked curiously.

"No, they can." Saburo answered as he smoked a pipe.

"Then, everyone would get eaten by them."

"That's why the demon hunters protect us by slaying them since way back when." The man put out his pipe. "Anyway, time to sleep."

Tanjiro simply nodded and closed his eyes.

'Saburo-jii-san must be lonely after losing his family.' Tanjiro thought as he drifted off to sleep. 'I'll bring my siblings next time, we'll tell him that there are no demons and he is safe.' As he thought of this he felt his consciousness slipping away. 'But, come to think of it, my grandma used to say the same thing when she was alive.'

* * *

Meanwhile.

"Nii-chan is late." Shigeru said, looking towards the door of their house.

"Don't worry, Onii-chan has a good nose for trouble." Nezuko assured her younger brother as she helped their mother prepare dinner.

"But isn't he taking too long?" Hanako asked a bit downcast. "He said he'd read to me when he gets back."

"Calm down, even if he doesn't come back tonight, he'll be back by morning and read to you then." Takeo answered her.

"Tanjiro-nii, won't be he cold sleeping outside?" Rokuta asked the others.

"You don't have to worry, you all know the people in town like Tanjiro, I'm sure they'll let him spend the night if it's too late for him to come back." Their mother assured them. "Now, go to the table, dinner's ready."

"Yes." Everyone answered in unison.

.

After eating everyone went to sleep, some of the kids after their mother convinced them to, when in the middle of the night, there was a knock on the door.

"Hmm? Did Onii-chan come back?" Nezuko thought as she got up from her bed and moved towards the door.

* * *

The next morning.

"Be careful on you way back." He said to Tanjiro.

"Yes, thank you for everything." The boy answered with a bow before beginning the way back home.

He had been walking for a while when he first sensed it.

"The smell of blood!" Tanjiro thought out loud as he began to run.

By the time he made it back, he was sweating and breathing heavily… yet he could hardly feel that as his brain understood the sight in front of him.

Lying in the snow, just outside their home, were Nezuko and Rokuta, both covered in blood.

He let out a strangled cry and ran towards them as he shook away the basket.

"Nezuko!" He called out, kneeling near the two. "What happened? What's going on? What happened here?!" Tanjiro turned towards his home and saw a sight that not even his worst nightmares could have conjured.

Inside the house laid the bodies of his entire family, their blood splashed around the walls and the floor.

"Mom… Hanako…" He called out as he felt his legs wobble, hoping to hear an answer. "Takeo… Shigeru… Nezuko… Rokuta…" But no matter how much he waited, no answer would come. "Why…? How…?" Shaking himself out of his shock, he approached each of his family's bodies, almost all of them were cold, making it obvious they have been dead for a while.

Except for Nezuko.

Ignoring everything else he grabbed the hatchet his brother was using yesterday, placed a light blue haori around his sister, put her on his back and began to run to the town.

'She's still warm! She might survive if I get her to a doctor!' Tanjiro repeated in his head as he forced his body to move.

The more he ran the more he felt like he would collapse, he wasn't able to breath properly, it had started to snow and his lungs hurt.

Yet he ignored all of that, forcing his body to continue to move no matter what.

'Hold on, Nezuko! I'll save you!' He kept repeating in his head, hoping that his sister could somehow hear his thoughts and cling to life.

Just as he was walking down near a cliff he felt Nezuko move and got distracted, in that moment, he slipped with the snow and fell down.

'Oh no!' He yelled as gravity did its work but didn't feel any pain as he touched the ground. 'I was saved by the snow.' Tanjiro thought, getting over the shock. 'I slipped because of the snow to begin with.' Moving to a sitting position, he looked around and called out for his sister.

He saw her standing with her head down a few feet away to his left.

"Nezuko, are you alright?" The red haired boy asked as he got up and ran towards her. "You don't have to walk! I'll carry you to town, okay?" He said as he got close to his sister. "Nezuko!"

Nezuko didn't answer, she slowly raised her head to meet Tanjiro's sight and-

"Grr!" Growled before lunging towards him, trying to bite him.

Out of reflex, Tanjiro dodged the first bite, then used the handle of the hatchet and placed it between the next one.

Nezuko bit down on it and pushed until Tanjiro was forced to the ground.

'Sh-she's… a demon!' The red eyed boy realized.

Her eyes had turned pink and were slit, she had two sets of fangs and the hands that were on his shoulders had claw-like fingernails. 'Nezuko's a man-eating demon…? No! That can't be the case, Nezuko's a human ever since she was born!' He is certain of it, he was there when she came to the world. 'But… she doesn't have Nezuko's usual scent.' Tanjiro continued to try to make sense of the situation.

Nezuko was definitely human until yesterday, does that mean something happened to her, she turned into a demon and attacked the others?

'No, that's not it, Nezuko didn't do that!' Tanjiro mentally shook his head out of that thought. 'She was lying as if she was protecting Rokuta, and there was no blood on her mouth or hands.' Then he realized something that he wasn't able to process at the time due to the situation.

Among the smell of blood from his family there was another scent, a scent that he never smelled before.

"GRR!" His thoughts were interrupted as Nezuko growled once again before her body grew.

'She grew in size and… she's getting stronger.' But even in this situation, he couldn't help but think of something else.

'While I was sleeping carelessly at Saburo's house, they were murdered brutally like that! It must've hurt! You suffered, didn't you?' Tears began to form in his eyes. 'I'm so sorry I couldn't save you.' He said, both to Nezuko and the rest of his family. 'I have to help Nezuko somehow but- ngh, she's too strong for me to push her back!' Realizing that trying to overpower her was impossible, he only had one other option.

"Nezuko!" Call out to her. "Hang in there, Nezuko! Don't give in!" He didn't even realize when the tears began to fall, blurring his vision, but he didn't care. "You gotta hang in there! Don't turn into a demon! You gotta stay strong!" Right now, the only thing occupying his mind was to save his sister, nothing else matters. "Hang in there! Hang in there!" He continued to call out. "Hang in-" But stopped when he felt something fall in his face.

His sister's tears.

"Nezu-"

He stopped what he was about to say when he saw someone behind Nezuko with a sword poised to strike.

Nezuko noticed it too and turned her attention towards the new arrival, the momentary distraction was enough for Tanjiro to momentarily overpower her and he quickly moved her out of the way of the sword.

He felt the blade almost touch him but it only cut the hair that he keeps in a ponytail.

When he would think back on it, Tanjiro would realize that the strength behind the attack was ridiculous as it blew away a good part of the snow in its path and sent the two siblings rolling until hitting a tree but right now that thought didn't even crossed his mind, there were more important things to think about at the moment.

'What the… Who is that?' Tanjiro asked in his mind, trying to ignore the pain on his back after hitting that tree.

Standing in front of him was a man with messy black hair tied into a low ponytail and dark blue eyes, wearing a black uniform with a red haori and holding a sword.

"Why are you protecting it?" The man asked, his tone emotionless and his expression completely deadpan.

"She's my sister! She's my younger sister!" Tanjiro answered, holding Nezuko in his arms, noticing she had went back to her normal size.

The man squinted as Nezuko began to growl and tried to get away from her brother.

"You call that thing your sister?" He asks before suddenly lunging towards the two.

Tanjiro closed his eyes and moved his body between Nezuko and the man but before he realized it, the man had grabbed Nezuko and moved away.

"Nezuko!"

"Don't move!" The swordsman ordered as he effortlessly kept Nezuko in place with one arm. "My job is to slay demons." He said in the same emotionless tone. "Needless to say, I'm going to decapitate your sister."

"Hold on! Nezuko hasn't killed anyone!" Tanjiro said back before trying to explain what happened. "There was another scent back at my home, a scent that I'd never smelled before! That's probably the one who killed my family!" He said, taking deep breaths between words to get them out. "It wasn't Nezuko! I don't know why she turned into something like that, but…"

"It's quite simple." The black haired man answered. "Because her wounds were exposed to demon blood, she turned into a demon." He spoke matter-of-factly. "That's how man-eating demons multiply."

"Nezuko would never eat humans!" Tanjiro declared with certainty.

"You gotta be kidding. Just now, you were about to be devoured." He argued back.

"You're wrong! I'm sure she knows who I am!" The red haired boy said. "I won't let her hurt anyone! I'm going to turn Nezuko back into a human! I swear I'll heal her!"

"She can't be healed." Tanjiro felt like someone stabbed him when he heard those words but ignored it.

"I'll find a way no matter what! So, please… please don't kill her!" He begged. "I'll hunt down the one who slaughtered my family! I'll make everything all right!" Even as he continued to talk, the swordsman didn't seem to be listening as he moved his swords closer and closer towards Nezuko. "So please! Please! Don't do it!" An image of the rest of his family flashed in his mind. 'Don't take anyone else from me.' Realizing that his words weren't reaching the swordsman, Tanjiro did the only thing he could think of at the moment.

He knelled down, placing his forehead on the ground.

"I'm begging you not to!" He said through tears. "Don't kill my little sister! Please don't do it! I'm begging you…" 'If he doesn't listen, then Nezuko…'

"Don't ever give others a chance to murder you!" The man suddenly yelled, his tone a far-cry from the emotionless one he was speaking with until now. "Stop that pathetic groveling! If it was the least bit effective, your family wouldn't be dead!" As he continued to talk, Tanjiro slowly raised his head to meet the man's eyes. "Can a weakling who can't take the initiative in such a situation heal his sister?! Hunt down the enemy?! Don't make me laugh!" The swordsman roared. "The weak have no rights or choices! Their only fate is to be relentlessly crushed by the strong! The demons might know how to cure your sister! But don't think that a demon would respect your will or wishes! Naturally, I have no respect for you, either! That's reality!" He berated, glaring at the boy. "Why did you throw yourself over your sister earlier? Was that your way of protecting her? Why didn't you swing your hatchet? Why did you show your back to me?" The black haired man asked before pointing his sword at him. "All those blunders led to your sister's capture! I could've skewered her along with you!"

During the entire monologue, Tanjiro could only stare, not moving as the man berated him.

'Don't cry.' The swordsman thought, still maintaining his glare. 'Don't despair, now's not the time for that. I know you're devastated. Your family was massacred, and your sister's become a demon. I know it's painful. I know you want to scream. I get it.' A small pang of guilt made his way into his mind. 'If only I'd gotten here a half-day sooner, your family might not have ended up dead… but there's no way to turn back time. Feel the rage. The powerful, pure rage of not being able to forgive will become your unswerving drive to take action!' He moved his sword back and pointed it at Nezuko. 'With such a fragile resolve like yours, you can't protect your sister or heal her… or get revenge for your family!'

"N-" Tanjiro didn't finish his sentence as the man stabbed Nezuko in the shoulder. "Stop!" He yelled, before grabbing a rock and throwing it at him.

The man used the handle of his sword to deflect it and stood there, waiting to see what the boy would do.

Tanjiro saw the axe in the snow and ran towards it, grabbing it and another rock as he ran between the trees to circle around the man holding Nezuko.

'I can't beat him straight on, what happened earlier taught me that much.' The red haired boy thought, he wasn't even able to see when he grabbed his sister from him so any attempt at winning if he attacks head-on is useless. 'Please, let this work!' He threw the rock at him but it only impacted the tree behind the man as he moved out of the way.

"Ahhhh!"

'A straightforward attack driven solely by emotion…' The man thought, seeing him rush at him. "You fool!" He yelled before hitting him in the back with the pommel of his sword, knocking him out. 'You're a fool but at least you moved… hmm? Where's his hatchet?' He thought, not seeing the weapon that the kid was holding.

His eyes widened when he heard a sound above him and barely moved his head out of the way in time to avoid the axe hitting him, it did manage to cut off a few strands of his hair, though.

'Just before he hid behind the tree.' The swordsman thought as he realized what had happened. 'He hurled that rock toward me and, at the same time, tossed the hatchet in the air. He hid his hands as he pretended to attack so I wouldn't realize he was unarmed.' The black haired man stared at the unconscious boy, genuinely astounded that he came up with that plan of attack in the few seconds between when he stabbed his sister and he threw the rock. 'He knew he couldn't beat me. He tried to bring me down after I struck him! This kid…'

"Grr." Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Nezuko managed to free herself and kick the man away before moving towards her brother.

'Damn! She'll devour him!' The swordsman thought, rushing to reach them- he stopped, his eyes widening at the sight in front of him as the words the red haired kid had said before repeated in his head. 'Nezuko… It wasn't Nezuko. She'd never eat humans!'

Kneeling between the boy and the swordsman, Nezuko had her arms spread, acting as a shield for her brother.

With a roar, she lunged at the swordsman.

'Long ago, someone said the same thing, only to be devoured by a demon.' The man thought as he effortlessly dodged Nezuko's strikes. 'When a demon is starving, it will kill and devour even its own parents or siblings. Because they're nutrient-rich. I've seen it happen more times than I can count.' He stared at the girl trying to attack him as he continued to dodge. 'This girl has been wounded, and she's expending energy to heal those injuries. She must've drained vast amounts of her strength as she transformed into a demon. That means she's severely starved at this moment, without a doubt.' He dodged a strike to his head then used his palm to push Nezuko away. 'She must've wanted to feast on a human right away, even if it's her own brother…' The image of Nezuko standing between them flashed through his mind. 'Yet, she protected him instead, and she is only aiming at me.'

Nezuko jumped towards a tree behind him and used it as a foothold to lunge towards the swordsman.

'I wonder…' The black haired man sheathed his blade but kept his hand on the handle. 'These siblings… might be different from others.' With that thought, he hit her on the neck with the edge of his hand, knocking her out.

.

.

"I'm sorry to leave you behind, Tanjiro." The red haired boy heard his mother's voice, he could also feel his siblings near him. "Take care of Nezuko for me, all right?" He unconsciously moved his hand and grabbed something, when he opened his eyes, that had tears falling from them, he saw Nezuko laying besides him, she was covered in the haori he had used before and a piece of bamboo was placed on her mouth, bound by a red tie.

"You awake?" He raised his head towards the black haired swordsman, who was standing with his back against a tree, before moving to a kneeling position and hug Nezuko closer to his body. "Go see an old man named Urokodaki Sakonju who lives at the foot of Mt. Sagiri. Tell him that Tomioka Giyu sent you." The man moved away from the tree. "She seems to be all right since it's cloudy now, but never let her be exposed to the sunlight, okay?" With those words, the swordsman, Giyu, disappeared.

* * *

Tanjiro isn't sure how long he stood in place after Giyu left but he knows that it was longer than he should.

Eventually, he picked Nezuko up and began to walk back to their home.

Before going to Mt Sagiri he has to get her a set of clothes that isn't covered in blood… and bury the bodies of his family.

* * *

A few days later.

Inside a house, Tomioka Giyu quickly made his way towards a specific room, he stood in front of the door for a moment and took a deep breath before knocking.

"Come in." A male voice said from the inside and the black haired man did as told, opening the door, walking inside and then closing it behind him. "Giyu, it's rare for you to send a crow saying that you want to talk, what's the problem?" The person inside asked.

"…I let a demon escape." He answered.

There was a pregnant pause as the man processed the statement.

"You mean that a demon managed to escape from you?"

"No, I… knowingly allowed a demon to live."

The man took a deep breath and stared at him.

"Explain."

So Giyu did just that, starting from the moment when he almost cut off the girl's head if it wasn't for her brother, the way he begged him not to kill her, how he almost managed to hit him with an axe and, most importantly, how Nezuko had protected her brother.

"…and you're absolutely certain that she was protecting him, it didn't just so happen that she was moving towards him to eat him and you misunderstood?" The man asked.

"She stood between us, with her arms spread, and glared directly at me." Giyu answered calmly. "I don't think that can be interpreted in any other way."

"…you do realize that what you did is a direct violation of the Demon Slayer corps' code of conduct and that if anyone finds out about this… no, let me rephrase that, you do realize that I have an obligation to report what you just told me, right?"

"I know, as a Pillar, you can't ignore this." Giyu answered. "I'm just asking you to see it for yourself before passing judgement, there is something different with those two."

The two men stared at each other before the one that was in the room first sighed and hung his head.

"Alright, I trust your judgement enough to at least go and see for myself if what you said is true." He said before raising his head. "However, you do realize that if she has attacked someone already _you_ are responsible for it, right?"

"I do." Giyu answered with a nod, his expression solemn. "I'm aware of the possibility and I'm prepared to take responsibility if that's the case but I don't believe I'm wrong."

"For your sake, I hope you're right." The man said with a small smile.

"Thank you, Sabito."

"Don't mention it, my friend."

* * *

**One moment please, I need to see if I completed the list.**

**-I take out a notebook and a pen-**

**Let's see.**

**Write the chapter: Checked.**

**Make everything more or less the same since there is not much to change at this stage: Checked.**

**Drop the bomb that Sabito is alive at the end before ending the chapter: Mega checked.**

**Haha, I want to believe that I caught at least _some_ of you off-guard with that last part.**

**Well, not much else to say, I guess.**

**I hope you enjoyed and to have your support as I write this like I did with the one-shots.**

**Thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated!**

**Until next time.**

**PS: Not entirely sure about the title for the story, if anyone wants to offer an alternative, I'm all ears.**


	2. Traveling and Mt Sagiri

**Traveling and Mt Sagiri**

**Hello again!**

**First of all, I will answer guest reviews here since I can't answer them via PM.**

**It's answered from oldest to newest, just so there is no confusion about which 'Guest' I'm answering to.**

**.**

**Guest: Thanks! I wish you luck with your fic. Personally, I don't feel like you're being rude.**

**Sumi: Well… I suppose you'll have to read and find out, won't you? Sorry but I don't give spoilers for anything, less so my own stories.**

**Guest: As I told Sumi, you'll have to read and find out.**

**Guest: I refer to the two answers I gave above.**

**.**

**Second of all, thank you all for the support, I hope you can continue to support the fic as I keep writing.**

**Without further ado, on with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Breath of avoid copyright, First Form, deny ownership!**

**I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"Nezuko?" Tanjiro called out, sitting outside of the entrance of a small cave somewhere in the middle of a forest.

The two siblings have made good progress in their journey to Mt. Sagiri but it has been slower than it could be since Nezuko refused to travel during the day and Tanjiro heeded the warning that the swordsman gave him before disappearing about not letting her be exposed to sunlight.

Luckily, he had a plan to fix that.

He had left Nezuko inside a cave when the sun was about to rise, told her to wait there and went back to a farm he saw while they were walking, hoping to get a basket to carry Nezuko in. He asked for some straw and bamboo as well in order to cover some holes the basket had and. after paying the owner for it. he made his way back to the cave.

"Huh? Nezuko?" He said again, peeking inside the cave but not catching sight of his sister. "She's gone!" Just when he was about to rush inside, his sister's head poked out from a hole in the ground. 'She dug a hole?' Tanjiro thought. 'My kid sister's turned into a mole.' Nezuko simply remained inside her hole, looking like she was glaring at the light outside. 'And she's frowning! She must really want to avoid the sunlight.' Shaking himself from his thoughts, the boy stood up and took out the hatchet he brought with him. "Wait there for a second!"

Tanjiro proceeded to cut the bamboo and use it along with the straw to cover the basket before entering the cave and kneeling in front of the hole with it.

"Think you can fit inside this?" He asked, presenting the altered basket. "I want to keep moving during the day, too. I'll carry you, okay?" Nezuko simply blinked at him. 'Does she not understand me?' Tanjiro wondered. "Can you fit?" He asked again, pointing at the basket. "In here? Basket."

Without any sign of acknowledgement, Nezuko climbed out of the hole and tried to enter head first inside the basket.

"She kinda protrudes, huh?" Tanjiro thought out loud.

Only her head and the upper part of her torso were able to fit inside of it and despite himself, Tanjiro couldn't help but smile thinking how much she has grown.

"Oh, Nezuko, remember how you became big like an adult earlier?" He asked. "Do you think you can do the opposite? Get smaller?"

Not seeing any reaction from her, Tanjiro patted her in the back and chanted.

"Smaller, Nezuko! Get smaller!"

There was no sound of acknowledgement but the demon pushed forward, moving the basket upwards and climbed inside it, doing as her brother said and becoming as small as a child, her pink kimono with a black haori looking like a large blanket now that it didn't fit her.

"Good job!" Tanjiro said happily as he patted her head. "That's a good girl, Nezuko! I'm impressed!" He then grabbed a blanket and used it to cover the top of the basket. "I'll tell you when the sun sets so you can walk, okay?"

The demon seemed to smile and nod before her brother covered the basket entirely so no sunlight could get inside of it.

"Alright, we're off." With those words, he got out of the cave with the basket secured on his back and began to walk.

* * *

'They said that Mt Sagiri is past that mountain… we're getting close.' The red haired boy thought as he walked.

He had been asking directions from the people that lived where he passed; they all told him the way to his destination was past a mountain in the distance and warned him to be careful since some people have been disappearing in the path.

Once the night came, Tanjiro let Nezuko out of the basket and the two kept walking together.

The path they were supposed to take was surrounded by a forest but there were no trees on the path itself so it was a fairly easy walk, they just needed to be careful not to trip.

"There's a temple over there." Tanjiro said as he saw some light. "There's light leaking through, so someone must be there. Let's check it out."

Nezuko didn't show any signs of agreeing or disagreeing and simply followed her brother.

The boy suddenly froze when a certain smell entered his nostrils.

"I smell blood! Someone must've gotten hurt!" He said before grabbing Nezuko's hand and running towards the temple.

The two quickly walked up the stairs and arrived at the sliding doors.

"Are you all right?" Tanjiro asked, letting go of Nezuko and opening the doors with both hands.

He wished he hadn't done that.

Inside the temple, lit by a small candle, were three bodies, clearly dead, and a person with shoulder length green hair squatting over one of them.

"What the hell?" No, that was wrong. "This is my turf." It wasn't a person hovering over one of the bodies. "If you break into my territory, I'll make you pay!"

With blood on its hands, its face and around the corners of its mouth, the _thing_ over the body was.

'A man-eating demon!' Tanjiro's mind processed, frozen at the scene in front of him, not even realizing that the basket that he was carrying with only one strap had fallen off.

Unbeknownst to him, Nezuko was completely ignorant of the demon's presence, her eyes were fixated on the three bloody corpses and she was salivating from beneath the bamboo piece over her mouth.

"There's something off about you." The demon said as it licked the blood on his fingers. "Are you both humans?" He asked as he stood up.

Tanjiro got over the initial shock and took a step back, his eyes fixed on the demon's form.

'What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?' That question repeated itself in his head over and over but he didn't have time to figure out an answer.

With a blow of the wind, the candle was blown off and the demon took that as his cue to lunge in the attack, tackling Tanjiro faster than the boy could react, he prepared his hand to impale and kill him.

The red haired boy reacted by grabbing the hatchet he kept at his hip and swinging it, making a deep cut on the demon's throat and making it do a somersault backwards.

Tanjiro skidded on the ground due to the initial impact while the demon landed easily on its feet.

"A hatchet, huh? Not bad." The demon said with a chuckle, bringing a hand over the wound on his neck. "But a scratch like this…" He grinned maniacally at Tanjiro. "…should heal in no time." Just as he said that, the wound closed, only the blood around his neck showing that there was one to begin with. "See that? The bleeding's stopped already."

Not allowing himself to be surprised, Tanjiro began to stand up, hatchet in hand but never got the chance.

'Wha-?' In the blink of an eye, the demon had closed the distance, used its left hand to hold down the arm that was holding the axe and its right one to choke him. 'He's so fast! And he's unbelievably strong!'

"You won't get me twice!" The demon said with the same evil grin on its face. "All right, I'm gonna snap your neck!"

.

'Human.' Nezuko thought, looking at the bodies. 'Food, eat- no!' She dug her fingernails on the palm of her hands to stop herself but she still couldn't look away from the sight, even when the demon attacked her brother she only registered it as a strong gale suddenly blowing, her eyes fixated on the corpses.

"I'm gonna snap your neck!"

Those words she did hear.

'Snap neck? Whose?' She wondered and a moment later she registered her surroundings. 'Onii-chan!' In a flash, she turned around and ran towards the demon that was pinning her brother to the ground. 'Get off of him!' She yelled in her mind as she kicked it in the head, decapitating the demon from the sheer strength behind the blow.

.

"Huh? Eh?!" Tanjiro could only stare at the place where the demon's eyes were glaring at him a moment ago, his mind only now realizing that its head was gone.

The body went limp and he quickly pushed it off of him, looking in horror at the insides of its neck.

'Sh-she killed him!' The boy thought, looking at his sister in a mix of shock and awe. 'Oh, but wait! He's a demon, so-' He mentally shook his head off those thoughts. 'Think about it later, we have to go.'

"N-Nezuko-" He was interrupted by his sister yet again, this time she kicked the headless body as it tried to reach for him again, sending it flying and crashing against a tree. 'D-did he just move without his head?!'

"You bastards!" Adding to the already surreal sight, the head of the demon spoke. "One of you is a demon after all? You gave off such a weird vibe! What's a human and a demon doing teaming up?"

'It's talking!' Tanjiro yelled in his mind, his brain trying to process the sight.

He didn't have time for it since the body got up and ran towards Nezuko hitting her away.

"Stop it!" The red haired boy yelled, grabbing his hatchet and rushing to his sister's aid.

He had to stop before he could reach as the demon's head grew two arms and used them to jump at him. Tanjiro reacted quickly though, and swung the weapon against the head.

It caught the edge in its teeth and used its new set of arms to grab Tanjiro's shoulders, grinning all the while.

"Nezuko!" He called out, hearing the body of the demon continue to hit her.

She wasn't able to answer as the body continued to hit her before grabbing her from her haori and throwing her towards the forest.

"Nezuko!" He was brought out of his worry when he felt something coiling around his arms and moved his gaze back to the demon's head as its hair grew and moved to ensnare the hatchet and him, still smiling despite having lost its body.

'What's the deal with this guy?' Tanjiro thought with a glare, any shock or fear he was feeling before replaced with anger. 'Growing arms from his head! I gotta save Nezuko!'

Reeling his head back, the red eyed boy glared at the head and yelled.

"Out of my way!" Before head-butting him as hard as he could.

'What the…? Hard!' The demon thought, letting go of the boy due to a mix of pain and surprise.

Tanjiro didn't let up, he immediately grabbed it from its hair and head-butted him again.

'His head is like a rock!'

Noticing that it was disoriented, Tanjiro grabbed the hatchet's handle and screamed as he threw it against a tree, the hatchet flew and imbedded itself in the tree, capturing the demon against it.

"Yes!" He celebrated before turning around in the direction Nezuko and the body went.

.

"Nezuko! Where are you?!" Tanjiro yelled as he ran around the forest. 'Come on, sniff them out, they couldn't have gone too far.' He kept running as he followed Nezuko's scent. 'The smell is getting stronger, they're close!' He thought as he ran around the trees and saw the demon's body kicking his sister.

"Nezuko!" He called out, running towards them. "Leave her alone!" Tanjiro yelled, tackling the body.

At that moment, he realized that he should have paid more attention to his surroundings since, in his rush to save his sister, he didn't notice the cliff behind the two demons.

"Ah!"

Luckily for Tanjiro, Nezuko managed to grab him from the back of his shirt before he could fall so only the demon's body crashed against the ground.

"Thank you, Nezuko." Tanjiro said through pants. "Can you bring me up?"

The black haired girl did as told and gently pulled him up until he was sitting safely on the ground.

"That was close." The red haired boy thought out loud, letting out a sigh of relief before turning to his sister. "Are you alright? Does anything hurt?" He asked as he checked her for wounds.

To his relief, it looked like there wasn't any.

"Thank the gods." He let out another sigh of relief before collapsing on the ground.

.

.

"Hngg." Tanjiro groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. "Where…? The demon!" He yelled, remembering what had happened. "I must have passed out." He looked around and saw Nezuko without her haori sitting in seiza and watching over him. "Nezuko, are you alright?" He asked, once again checking her for wounds.

His sister stared at him and even with the bamboo piece covering her mouth, he could tell that she was smiling.

"Sorry for worrying you." Tanjiro apologized before patting her head. "Hm? Nezuko, where is your haori?"

The pink eyed girl simply tilted her head in response.

Tanjiro looked around and noticed that the haori was on the ground, folded up and in the exact place where his head was resting.

"I see, thank you Nezuko." He said, grabbing the haori, unfolding it, and shaking it for a bit to get rid of any dirt before putting it on his sister. "I must not have been unconscious for too long, it's still dark out."

With that, the two began to walk back to the temple hand in hand.

* * *

As they arrived at the temple, Tanjiro noticed that the head of the demon was still trapped between the axe and the tree where he had left him.

'If I just leave him here, he could break free and kill more people.' The boy thought, letting go of his sister's hand and grabbing a sheathed knife from his pocket. 'I wonder if there are tons of demons out there.' He sniffed the air, focusing on the demon's head. 'This isn't the scent that was lingering in my house, it was a different demon but even so… I have to finish him off.' Tanjiro didn't even realize he was beginning to hyperventilate as he reached that conclusion. 'If I don't kill him he'll attack more people! I gotta do it! Do it!' He repeated the last part over and over in his head trying to move his body but try as he might it just wouldn't respond beyond twitching as he continued to hyperventilate. 'Do it, do it, do it, do-!'

Tanjiro felt a hand on his shoulder breaking him out of his thoughts.

'Who is there? Nezuko? Another demon?' The boy slowly turned his head to the sight of a red mask with a long nose and an angry expression.

"You can't finish him off with that." A male, hoarse voice said, coming from behind the red mask.

'A tengu mask!' Tanjiro thought. 'I didn't hear his footsteps!'

The man with the tengu mask was wearing a light blue jinbei style kimono with a few clouds in it and covering his head with a white scarf.

Getting over the initial surprise, Tanjiro turned around completely.

"H-how can I finish him off?" He asked.

"Don't ask me!" The man answered. "Can't you use your own head to figure that out?"

Although not expecting that response, the boy heeded the advice.

'If stabbing is no good, I'll have to crush his head!' The red haired boy thought, looking around until he saw a rock of an appropriate size and went to grab it.

He then went back to stand in front of the demon and gulped.

'To crush his skull and smash it completely, I guess I'm going to have to pound him with this rock many times.' He realized. 'I bet he's going to suffer.' That thought alone made him hesitate even more than when he was just going to stab him. 'Isn't there anything I can sue to kill him with one blow?'

While Tanjiro tried to think of a way to kill that demon without making it suffer, the man with the tengu mask simply looked.

'This kid isn't going to cut it.' He thought, sniffing the air. 'He's too kind and can't make decisions. He's facing a demon, yet the scent of kindness remains. He has empathy for even a demon.' The masked man mentally sighed. 'Giyu… he's never going to make it.'

.

.

As Tanjiro stood there frozen in place, the head jolted awake, it looked around for a moment until its eyes landed on Tanjiro.

"You bastard, I'll kill you!" The demon yelled, moving its arms to try and reach him. "I swear I'll devour you! Get over here! Dammit! I can't go to you, so you come to me!"

Tanjiro wasn't listening, though, as he noticed the light on the horizon.

'I faltered too long, now the sun's coming up!' He thought. 'Now that I think about it, why did he tell me to not let Nezuko get hit by sunlight?'

Almost as if to answer his unspoken question, the sunlight began to hit the demon, quickly burning him and turning the head into ashes.

'He's gone with that much sunlight?!' Tanjiro thought in shock, letting go of the rock without even realizing. 'No wonder Nezuko shrinks from it!' As he thought that, he realized something. "Nezuko? Nezuko?" The boy called out as he looked around for his sister. 'Where is she?!' He didn't panic for long though, as he walked towards the temple and saw his sister inside, safely hidden from the sun behind the walls and the blanket covered basket.

He let out another sigh of relief at the sight.

"O-oh, that's right; where's that man?" Tanjiro wondered out loud.

He found him kneeling in prayer at one side of the temple.

'He buried the people who got killed.' The red haired boy realized, slowly walking towards him.

"Um…"

"I'm Urokodaki Sakonji." The man introduced himself. "I'm assuming you're the one Tomioka Giyu sent my way."

"Y-yes!" Tanjiro answered, standing straight. "My name is Kamado Tanjiro! My sister's name is Nezuko, and-"

"Tanjiro." Urokodaki interrupted calmly. "What will you do when your sister devours a human?"

The Kamado could only stare, his brain unable to process the question.

Noticing this, Urokodaki walked towards him and slapped him.

"Too slow!" He berated as Tanjiro registered the pain. "You're just too slow at making decisions! You failed to finish off that demon before daybreak!" The masked man continued. "Do you know why you couldn't answer my question right away? It's because your resolve is too weak!" The red haired boy simply stared at him, not finding a way to refute his words. "There are two things to do if your sister devours a human. Kill your sister! Then slit your own belly and die! That's what it means to travel with your sister who became a demon!"

'That's… that's true.' Tanjiro thought, realizing just how lightly he had taken the situation, he thought that his encounter with Tomioka Giyu had made him realize it but he had clearly been too naïve.

"But that must never happen no matter what and you'd best not forget." Urokodaki continued. "Your sister, taking the life of an innocent person, that's the one thing that must never happen. Ever!" Having said his piece, Urokodaki turned away from Tanjiro. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes!" He answered, no longer feeling the pain on his cheek.

"All right, now I'm going to test you to see if you're fit to become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps." Even from behind the mask, Tanjiro could fell the intensity in the man's eyes. "Carry your sister on your back and follow me!"

* * *

Tanjiro did as told and followed behind Urokodaki as best as he could, which amounted to 'just fast enough to not lose sight of him'.

'He's so fast! Just how old is he anyway?' Tanjiro wondered trying to keep his breathing under control as he ran behind the masked man. 'And, like earlier, I'm not hearing any footsteps at all!' Realizing that thinking about that was useless, his mind went towards his siter. 'Nezuko, I know it must be jarring, but please be patient…! Well, being patient is all that you've ever known.' A small pang of guilt made way into his hearth as he remembered one time he saw his sister fixing her kimono, he had offered to buy her a new one but she brushed the offer off with a smile saying that, that kimono was her favorite and that she would rather use the money so the others could have more food.

That memory brought tears to the corner of his eyes but it also strengthened his resolve even more.

'I swear I'll turn you back into a human! I swear I'll buy you a beautiful kimono someday!' He used his sleeve to wipe away the tears and doubled his efforts to keep up with Urokodaki. 'Everything that I couldn't do for the others I'll do it all for you!'

* * *

The sun was almost setting by the time they made it to their destination, a small house at the foot of Mt. Sagiri.

Urokodaki looked perfectly fine as he walked towards the house and opened the door while Tanjiro was on the floor on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"N-now, have I…" He began through pants. "…passed… the test?"

Undoing his scarf to reveal short white hair Urokodaki spoke.

"The test starts now, we're going to climb the mountain."

Tanjiro could only give a choked scream at those words.

"Get her inside." The older man said, looking at the basket on Tanjiro's back.

Taking one more deep breath, he did as told and left a sleeping Nezuko inside the house.

"I'll make sure to take care of your sister for you." Urokodaki assured him.

"I'm counting on you, sir."

Then the two began to walk up the mountain.

* * *

'I'm exhausted.' Tanjiro thought as he followed the man with the tengu mask up the mountains, he lost track of how long they've been walking but the moon was high in the sky so it was definitely late. 'My legs are starting to buckle! I'm starting to feel dizzy, too.' Shaking his head, he focused on following the older man.

A minute later, Urokodaki stopped walking a few steps in front of Tanjiro and turned around.

"Now, from here, go back down to the house at the foot of the mountain." He said, surprising the red haired boy. "This time, I'm not going to wait until daybreak!" Leaving those words behind, he seemingly blended in with the mist and disappeared from sight.

'Eh? Is that all?' Tanjiro wondered, trying to find Urokodaki but he was long gone. 'I see, he thinks I might get lost in this thick fog.' For the first time since meeting the man, he let out a sigh of relief. 'I just have to get back by daybreak, right? That's easy! I have a great sense of smell and I already memorized Urokodaki-san's scent.' Feeling confident, Tanjiro began to jog back down, trusting his nose to show him the way.

'Just need to- eh?' He suddenly tripped on something, making him stop moving. 'What was-? Ow!' Something flew towards him, hitting him in the face. 'Rocks?!' He took a few steps to the right to regain his balance only to lose his footing and fall down a pitfall. 'I get it now, so the place is filled with traps. That's the deal, huh?'

He quickly climbed out of the hole, only for his hand to touch a rope and activate another trap.

'Crap, more rocks?!' Tanjiro quickly jumped back and to the side but didn't see any rocks coming his way. 'Where- gah!' Instead of rocks, a large log tied with rope suddenly hit him on his back sending him flying to the ground. 'Crap, crap, crap; if I keep walking into traps like this, I won't make it down the mountain by morning!' He thought as he tried to take a deep breath. 'And besides, this mountain… the air's too thin here! It's way thinner here than on the mountain where I used to live! That's why I'm gasping for air like this and feel so dizzy!' Gritting his teeth, Tanjiro forced his body to move, following the trail Urokodaki left behind. 'Will I make it back? I might pass out!' But just as those thought entered his mind, he dismissed them. 'No, I gotta make it back!' He once again stopped, this time of his own will and not because of any traps. 'Get your breathing under control and sniff out each of those traps!' Closing his eyes, he focused in order to smell each of the traps in his way. 'Alright!'

With a determined look, he began running away.

He tripped another trap, a rope that made more logs come at him but he was prepared this time and managed to dodge them, he continued his dash even as he kept activating the traps since, even if he could smell them that only gave him its approximate location, so he was ready to dodge them but couldn't see the ropes that activate them.

'I've got it! I've got it!' The red haired teen thought. 'Since they were set up by people, I can sniff them out!' Almost as if to contradict him, a new type of trap went out, a bamboo log that had been bended until it was touching the ground was let loose, going back to its original position and taking Tanjiro with it, only for gravity to smash him into the ground. 'That been said-' Three more bamboo trees came crashing down on him and he could only raise his arms to cover his face. 'I'm not suddenly going to be athletic enough to dodge every one of them!' Once the hits subsided, Tanjiro began walking again, using a tree every now and then as support. 'I will definitely make it back!'

* * *

At the house at the foot of the mountain.

Urokodaki had long since made it back home and moved Nezuko from the floor to a futon, tucking her in before waiting for Tanjiro to come back.

'The sun is about to go up.' The old man thought, looking out a window. '…just in time.' He looked at the door, having smelled the red haired boy just outside of it, a moment later, it opened.

The older Kamado was a mess, his clothes had dirt all over them, his face was covered in bruises, his breathing was shallow and he was bleeding from a cut on his forehead.

"I…" But, he had made it. "…have… returned…" That was the only thing he said before collapsing against the frame of the door.

'Barely made it, huh?' Urokodaki thought, getting up from the floor and walking towards him. 'Giyu, you said that you felt that something was different with these two, while I can't say I haven't seen a similar determination as Tanjiro's before this is without a doubt the first time I have seen a demon that refuses to eat humans, even if they were already corpses.' The masked remembered how while Tanjiro was debating with himself about killing the demon back at the temple, Nezuko had just stood there, completely ignoring the corpses inside the structure. 'At the very least, I am willing to bet on their possibilities.'

"I accept you as my student, Kamado Tanjiro." He said softly before carrying the unconscious boy inside.

* * *

A few days later, inside a bedroom away from Mt Sagiri.

'So he was accepted.' A man with peach colored hair and a scar on his right cheek, almost reaching his mouth, thought as he read the letter a crow had just delivered. 'I don't doubt your judgement, Urokodaki-san, but I still need to see this for myself.' With that thought, he got up from the ground and grabbed a geometrically patterned green, orange, and yellow haori that he put over his black uniform's jacket.

"Are you going?" A female voice asked from the door.

"Yes."

"He was accepted, wasn't he?"

"He was."

"Do you really need to go then, Sabito?"

Sabito chuckled before opening a closet and retrieve a fox mask from it, the mask was completely white, with a red cord used to keep it in place and had a scar in the same place Sabito had one, he then placed the mask on his belt.

"The kid might have been accepted and I won't question Urokodaki-san's judgement in that front but whether or not I accept that demon remains to be seen." He said matter-of-factly. "I'm risking my life just by not immediately reporting this, if I risk it anymore then I want to see for myself if it is worth it." With those words, he walked outside of the room and towards the entrance of the house.

"Fair enough." The girl said, walking besides him.

"Where are you going?"

"With you." She answered immediately. "I may not be a pillar but I'm also risking my life by not reporting this."

"I told you not to ask what I talked with Giyu, remember?" Sabito asked with a sigh.

"And I insisted that you tell me." She said back. "It was my choice and I'll see it through to the end."

"I can't argue with that." The man conceded as the two reached the door of the house. "Let's go then, Makomo."

"Right."

* * *

**Okay, most of you probably weren't surprised this time around since I already revealed that Sabito was alive so there is a good chance you guessed that Makomo was the one talking at the end, even without Sabito saying anything.**

**I even considered not naming her and leave you with the doubt… but I'm not that mean, haha.**

**I _will_ explain how those two are alive eventually, most likely on the next chapter, just in case some of you are wondering how they survived the final selection.**

**You probably noticed that there haven't been any major changes yet, there will be, I assure you, I'm just building up to it.**

**I think that's it, once again thank you for the support and if you liked it please leave a review.**

**Heck, even if you _didn't_ like it, tell me what you didn't like, maybe I can work on it.**

**Thanks for reading and for supporting this fic.**

**Until next time.**


	3. Sabito and Makomo

**Sabito and Makomo**

**Hi again!**

**First, guest reviews answer corner, remember it is answered from oldest to newest.**

**.**

**Guest: I think you can guess at least one ship in this fic simply based on my one-shots. I won't reveal anything else though.**

**Thanks for leaving a review and for the support!**

**Guest: Understandable but, like I said in the previous chapter, I'm building up to it, I can't very well tell you 'go watch the anime/manga from this chapter to this chapter before reading this', that just feels wrong.**

**With that said, this chapter will… not exactly diverge; I think 'expand' would be a better term, you'll see what I mean as you read.**

**Guest: I try to post at least one chapter a month for any multi-chapter story I make but I don't have a completely fixed schedule. Depending on how much time and motivation I have, I may update twice a month or even more.**

**There was one time when I wrote a really long chapter and I ended up dividing it into two, adding some more to the second part and posted both within a day of each other, just to give an example.**

**.**

**Once again, thank you all for the support you're giving to this fic, it's always nice to read reviews showing that you're interested in the story!**

**Without further ado, on with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba.**

**I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"No matter how many times I come back, it always brings back memories." Sabito thought out loud with a smile.

"True." The black haired girl at his side nodded. She is wearing the standard Demon Slayer uniform with a flower patterned haori on top and had a fox mask with two flowers on the right cheek resting at the left side of her head.

The two had been traveling for around three days and they could finally see Urokodaki's home at the foot of the mountain.

"The kid should be trying to go down the mountain at this hour, right Makomo?" Sabito asked.

"Unless Urokodaki-san changed his training regime, he should be, yes." She answered.

The two shared a chuckle at the thought of their master changing his training.

"Sabito, what exactly are you planning to do?" Makomo asked; her expression serious. "You said that you want to see this demon for yourself, and I agree, but you haven't told me what you plan to do exactly."

"It's simple really, I will test her." The peach haired man answered with a shrug.

"Test her?"

"To see if she will attack humans or not."

"And how, exactly, will you do that?" A new voice asked.

The two didn't even flinch as they turned around and smiled at the masked man.

"Urokodaki-san." The two bowed in unison. "It's nice to see you again."

"Likewise." The older man answered, smiling behind his mask. "Although I know you're not here just to visit." Sabito and Makomo raised their heads and nodded. "Come on then, let's talk inside."

"What about your new student?" The black haired girl asked as the three began to walk.

"Tanjiro will be training in the mountain for a while longer, enough time for us to talk." Urokodaki answered.

"How is he doing?" Sabito asked next.

"He is still just beginning so not great but he is getting better." Their master answered before opening the door to his house. "Make yourselves at home."

The two former students did as told, entered the house and sat down near the middle.

"So, back to my question." The masked man began after sitting down. "Sabito, how do you plan to test Nezuko?"

"…where is she?" He asked instead of answering.

"Sleeping in the next room." Urokodaki answered, gesturing to the door with his hand. "She has been asleep since she got here."

"It's been days." Makomo said in surprise.

"I know, I called a doctor already but he couldn't tell us what was wrong with her."

"She is a demon, of course he couldn't." Sabito chimed in. He then got up, walked to the room his master mentioned and opened the door.

Inside, Nezuko was sleeping peacefully on top of a futon with a blanket covering up to her neck.

"What do you intend to do?" The man with the tengu mask asked.

Without a word, Sabito unsheathed his sword and walked towards the sleeping demon, he stood over Nezuko, let out a wave of killing intent and raised his sword.

"Sabito!" Makomo called out just before he brought down the sword.

"…she is a heavy sleeper." The swordsman said simply, having stopped his sword just before making contact with her neck. "I apologize, Urokodaki-san, I needed to make sure."

"It's fine." The aforementioned answered. "I suppose whatever test you had in mind will have to wait then?"

"Yes, it's pointless to try anything if she is not even awake." The peach haired man answered as he sheathed his sword and walked back to his seat. "I told Giyu I will see for myself if there really is something different with these two, you know better than anyone that I don't go back on my word."

"True." Sakonji said with a chuckle. "For what it's worth, she resisted eating some corpses on the way here."

"What do you mean?" Makomo asked.

"When I encountered the two in a temple not far from here, Tanjiro and Nezuko had just fought a demon." Urokodaki began. "The fight was over by the time I arrived with the head of the demon pinned against a tree with an axe, I asked Tanjiro to tell me what happened after he passed the test and got some rest." He proceeded to re-tell what Tanjiro said to him about smelling blood, thinking that someone was injured and fighting the demon.

"So his sister protected him." Sabito said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Are you certain he wasn't lying?"

"I am, his scent wasn't that of a liar… he did say something that got me thinking, though."

"What was that?" The only girl in the room asked.

"I asked him if he hated demons." The masked man began. "He said 'no', can you guess why?"

"Because his sister is one." Sabito answered immediately. "Hating demons would be the same as hating her."

"Correct, that's part of the reason."

"A part?" The two former students asked in unison.

"…'weren't demons human once?'"

The moment those words came out, Sabito and Makomo widened their eyes in shock.

"He asked me that when I asked about hating demons beside his sister… it's easy to forget that don't you think?"

"Demons eat people!"

"'Was it their choice to become a demon?', I said the exact same thing as you Sabito and that was his answer."

"He… has a point." Makomo admitted. "That been said, we can't just let demons go free simply because it might not have been their choice to become one, they still killed and ate people."

"And he agrees." Urokodaki said. "Like I told you before, he hesitated for too long and the sun ended up killing the demon from the temple but after the conversation I just mentioned to you he told me that he won't hesitate anymore, 'even if they have their circumstances, killing people is unforgivable' were his exact words."

"Can he really live up to those words?" Sabito asked.

"From everything you just said, he is too kind for his own good, empathizing with a demon can be lethal if it makes him hesitate." Makomo added.

"I believe he can do it, saving his sister takes priority over everything else for him." The masked man answered.

The two demon slayers exchanged a look before looking back at their master.

"We'll trust your judgement then." They said in unison, the silver haired man nodded.

"Have you told him about the Final Selection?" Sabito asked.

"I have explained the basics of the Demon Slayer corps and that the only way to join is by passing the Final Selection that I decide whether or not he is ready to go to."

"And about _that_ demon?" Makomo asked next.

"Not yet." Their master answered. "I will tell him when and if I think he is ready to go to Mt. Fujikasane, not before."

The former students nodded in agreement.

"On to another topic, would you like to stay for dinner?" Urokodaki asked.

"Thank you for the offer but we don't want to reveal ourselves to that kid yet." Sabito answered, about to get up.

"I thought I told you, he has a good nose." His master answered. "He'll be able to tell someone came here and will recognize your scent if you ever meet each other."

"…there is no reason to deny the offer then." Makomo said with a grin while looking at her peach haired friend.

Sabito simply sighed before smiling and nodding.

* * *

'I'm finally done for the day.' Tanjiro thought, slowly and sluggishly making his way towards his master's house.

He had spent the entire day going up and down the mountain per Urokodaki's instructions; he still had a long way to go to be able to avoid all the traps but he was making progress, unlike the first few days, his worst injury was a bruise on his cheek, courtesy of a rock he was too slow to dodge. His clothes were a mess, though.

'I wonder what's for dinner.' He thought absentmindedly before sniffing the air to try and recognize what his master was cooking. 'Hmm? This smell… there are two other people in the house.'

Curious, he quickened his pace a bit and opened the door.

"I'm back." The red haired boy called out.

"Welcome back." Urokodaki answered, sitting in the middle of the room and cooking a hot-pot.

Beside him, a man and a woman were sitting around the fire.

The two were wearing the same black uniform and had a sword resting at their side but the man with grey eyes had a tri-colored haori on top while the girl with blue eyes had a flower patterned one over hers. They also had a fox mask each, the girl was wearing hers on the side of her head and it had two flowers on the right cheek while the other had his hanging from his waist and had a scar on its right cheek that matched the one the man had on his face.

"Nice to meet you." The girl said with a smile. "I'm Makomo and this is Sabito, we're former students of Urokodaki-san."

"Ah, nice to meet you, my name is Kamado Tanjiro." The red haired boy said before bowing in greeting.

"Giyu told us about your circumstances." Sabito spoke harshly, a stark contrast to Makomo's seemingly friendly disposition. "You said that you want to turn your sister back into a human."

"That's correct." Tanjiro nodded after standing upright again.

"That has never been done before." The older male continued, glaring at him. "There may not even be a way."

"I will still find it." The Kamado answered, not looking away from Sabito's stern glare despite the chill it sent down his spine.

"…"

"…"

"…we'll see." Sabito relented.

"Tanjiro." Makomo called out, earning his attention. "You're hurt." She said, pointing to his cheek.

"Ah, there was a rock that I couldn't dodge in time." He explained.

"Come with me, I'll take care of it." The black haired girl said, standing up. "Is the first aid kit still in the same place?"

"Yes." Urokodaki answered.

"Thank you very much." Tanjiro said with a smile as he followed her.

* * *

At dinner.

Tanjiro felt a little awkward as he ate, trying not to seem too conspicuous as he glanced at the two guests.

"If there is something you want to say, say it." Sabito spoke up before taking a bite of his food.

Flinching at the sudden words, the red haired boy took a deep breath to calm down and spoke.

"You two are Demon slayers, right?"

"That's right." Makomo answered.

"Thank you for not attacking Nezuko."

Those words actually made Sabito pause, his chopsticks holding a piece of food between his bowl and his mouth.

"Make no mistake." The peach haired man began. "The only reason I haven't decapitated your sister is because I told Giyu that I would wait and see for myself if she really won't attack humans, I can't test that if she is asleep so I'm simply waiting."

"Nezuko would never attack humans." Tanjiro said with certainty.

"Tanjiro." Makomo chimed in, smiling sadly. "We have heard a lot of people say that when they saw their loved ones turn into demons, each time, the demons would attack them after that claim."

"Yet she hasn't attacked anyone." The Kamado countered.

"Leave it be." Urokodaki spoke. "The fact that she hasn't attacked anyone is undeniable but that doesn't mean that she won't, either way she can't do that while she's asleep so this discussion is moot."

The other three looked at their master before nodding in agreement.

.

.

After that conversation dinner was uneventful, if a little awkward, and once he was done Tanjiro excused himself and went to the room he was sharing with Nezuko.

He spared a glance at his sister before moving to a small desk in a corner of the room, light a lamp and write.

The older Kamado had decided to keep a journal for his sister of what he had been doing that day and wrote on it every day after training and before going to sleep.

"We'll be taking our leave now." Sabito said, he and Makomo were standing outside the house, with Urokodaki at the door.

"You're welcome to spend the night, you know?" The old man said.

"Thank you, but we have to go back now." Makomo answered. "We'll visit again."

"And please send a letter if the demon regains consciousness." Sabito added.

"I will." Urokodaki said with a nod before approaching the two and placing a hand on their heads. "It fills me with pride to see how far you've come." He said, smiling behind his mask.

Sabito and Makomo smiled, letting him continue.

After Urokodaki stopped, he wished them a safe trip and the two Demon Slayers left.

.

.

"So, what's the verdict?" Makomo asked, glancing at her friend.

"He really seems to believe that he can turn his sister back into a human." Sabito answered. "Whether that's possible or not remains to be seen, but I won't question his determination."

"I think you scared him a bit, though." The girl said with a grin.

"If that was enough to make him stop, then he would have never accomplished anything."

"True."

* * *

Three months later.

As Makomo had said, Sabito and her have been visiting Urokodaki every now and then, they usually only stay a day and to eat dinner before going back, checking on Nezuko as well as listening about how Tanjiro's training was coming along from their master.

So far, he was making progress but according to Urokodaki unless Tanjiro suddenly underwent an explosive growth there was no way he was making it into the Final Selection this year.

"That's more or less the gist of it." Sabito said, having just explained this to Giyu.

The two Demon Slayers were currently on their way to headquarters for a meeting of the Pillars.

"I see." The black haired man said in monotone, looking at his slightly taller friend from the corner of his eyes. "Are you going to bring him up during the meeting?"

"No."

"Shouldn't you, as the Water Pillar?"

"As the Water Pillar, I should have cut off that girl's head when she was sleeping in Urokodaki-san's home." Sabito answered. "If I speak about her then someone, likely Shinazugawa, will surely rush there and kill her without mercy. I said that I will wait and see for myself if she truly doesn't eat humans, I have no intention of going back on my word."

"…I'm sorry." Giyu said.

"I told you repeatedly, don't worry about it." The peach haired man answered with a shrug. "On another topic, remember to pay attention to the meeting and don't be afraid to speak up if you have something to say."

"Why am I going to the meetings again?" He asked with a small frown. "I'm not a Pillar."

"No, you are my Tsuguko and I plan to prepare you in case you have to take my place." Sabito answered.

"As if that would ever happen." Giyu said back, taking it as a joke. For him, the idea of Sabito dying before him was laughable.

"I'm not invincible Giyu, I'm confident in my skills and I have no intention of dying any time soon, that doesn't mean that I won't." The man with the tri-color haori answered. "Why the reluctance, though? You used to have no problem with accompanying me to the meetings."

"Ara ara, Sabito-san, Tomioka-san." Someone called out, making the two turn around in the direction of the voice.

Calmly walking towards them was a petite woman with purple eyes and short black hair that fades to purple, fastened at the back with a white and purple butterfly ornament with two bangs framing her face. She is wearing the standard Demon Slayer uniform in a shade of dark purple and a white haori with a butterfly wing pattern.

"Shinobu-san, it's been a while." Sabito greeted amicably as the two waited for her to approach.

"Indeed it has." Shinobu answered smiling. "How have you two been?"

"Can't complain." The Pillar answered with a shrug.

"And you, Tomioka-san?"

"Kocho." Giyu said as a way of greeting before turning around again. "We should get going; we don't want to be late."

The Water Pillar could only sigh at his friend's attitude.

"You go on ahead, we'll catch up." He said to her.

"Very well, I'll see you two later." She answered, still with the same smile, before disappearing from sight.

Sabito caught up with Giyu and simply stared at him, silently asking what was wrong.

"You asked me why I've been reluctant to come to meetings lately." The Tsuguko began. "The reason just rushed ahead of us."

"You have a problem with Shinobu-san?" The black haired man nodded. "What is it?"

"I don't like her smile." He said simply.

"Her smile?" Sabito repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Why not?"

Giyu stopped walking and turned to look his friend in the eyes.

"Even _I_ can tell that she's faking it."

The pillar widened his eyes, caught genuinely off-guard by that statement.

'I guess anyone who knew her before would be able to tell.' He thought with a sigh before the two resumed their walk. "I understand what you mean." The peach haired man said.

"I'm sure everyone else has noticed as well."

"I mean no offense but, like you said, even _you_ noticed." Sabito said with a small grin to try and lighten the mood.

"I'm not that bad." Giyu said with a frown.

"Yes, you are." The other man answered before blinking. "Huh, feels a bit weird to say that without Makomo saying it with me, guess I got too used to it."

The black haired swordsman decided not to comment anymore, knowing how it would end up if he did.

* * *

A year has passed since Tanjiro first arrived at Mt. Sagiri.

In all that time, he has done nothing but train in order to survive the Final Selection.

Around two months after Sabito and Makomo's first visit, he had become much stronger and was able to avoid the traps with relative ease while also sniffing them out with more time to dodge and pinpoint their location more accurately; the downside, was that the traps began to go from 'painful but not lethal' to 'lethal', the rocks were now knives, the pitfalls were filled with blades at the bottom and the logs were replaced by a wood surface covered with spikes.

A month after he had managed to overcome those traps, Urokodaki gave him a training sword and told him to go down the mountain while holding it, it was the first time in a long time that he was caught in the traps thanks to not been used to the weapon and it hampering his movement; the masked man seemed to have taken that into account as he had prepared non-lethal traps that time.

After going down the mountain, Tanjiro is made to swing the sword until he feels like his arms are about to fall off, Urokodaki adding more repetitions if he thinks that the red haired kid can still go on.

After learning the basics, Urokodaki told Tanjiro to try and attack him with the sword; although hesitant at first the Kamado soon learned that he had no chance of actually hitting his master, despite his age, the old man constantly sent him flying into the ground.

Following that began the training for the ten forms of Urokodaki's style of swordsmanship, the Water Breathing Style.

To do that, Tanjiro first had to learn about Total Concentration Breathing, a breathing technique that, in Urokodaki's own words, enhances his body's natural healing power as well as stabilizing and energizing his spirit by making the oxygen flow into every cell of his body.

Since overcoming the traps, this was the first thing he has felt pain for not accomplishing, as the man with the tengu mask hit his stomach with his palm every time Tanjiro wasn't bracing it.

Afterwards, Tanjiro was thrown down a waterfall, Urokodaki telling him to 'become one with water' right before he kicked him in.

The waterfall training began six months after he arrived and it only got harder and more dangerous as he continued, Urokodaki telling him to go even higher up the mountain where the air is even thinner than where he first began his training and the way down not only had traps but also slopes and cliffs that he had no way of overcoming but by climbing down.

In all the time that Tanjiro spent training, Nezuko didn't wake up, worrying his brother.

Sabito and Makomo's visits became more frequent as time went on, stopping by at least once every two weeks but they didn't interact much; Tanjiro always made sure to greet them and Makomo greeted him back while Sabito just stared at him.

And now, a year after the red haired boy began his training.

"I have nothing more to teach you." Urokodaki said after Tanjiro had finished going down the mountain that day.

He was panting and had some dirt in his face and clothes but was fine otherwise.

"Eh?" The student said, surprised at the sudden statement.

"The rest is up to you! Whether or not you can improve to the next level."

Taking a deep breath, Tanjiro stood upright.

"Come with me!" Urokodaki said.

.

Tanjiro followed his master as the masked man calmly walked around the forest, clearly knowing where he was going.

'It's snowing.' The Kamado thought, noticing the snowflakes that where falling and looking around, unconsciously comparing this forest and mountain to the one he grew up in.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Urokodaki stopped walking.

They had made their way to a clearing in the forest and in the middle of it was a large boulder with a rope tied around it.

"If you can slice this boulder, I will allow you to enter the Final Selection."

'Eh?' Tanjiro looked at his master and then back at the boulder. 'Slice the boulder? Can you even do that with a sword?' He wondered. 'I don't think I can, my sword will snap.'

Unaware of his student's thoughts, or maybe aware but willingly ignoring them, the masked man turned around and walked away, ignoring Tanjiro's callings.

Seeing that his master wasn't going to come back, Tanjiro did the only think he could do, face the boulder, draw his weapon and strike.

The boulder remained intact and the Kamado felt the backlash in his whole body but his sword was intact, so he simply tried again.

* * *

Three months since Tanjiro began to try to split the boulder.

"He is still out training?" Makomo asked as she saw the sun begin to set. Sabito and her were sitting with Urokodaki inside the house drinking tea.

"He has determination but at this rate, he won't make it for the Final Selection this year either." Urokodaki answered.

"Do you not want him to make it?" Sabito asked, making the older man flinch almost imperceptibly.

"He is a good kid, I already took a risk by sending Makomo at the time… I don't want to tempt fate anymore." He answered, letting out a sigh. "That been said, it isn't my choice to make, I have taught him everything the same way I thought any of my students the rest is up to him."

The peach haired man didn't reply and simply took a sip of his tea.

* * *

The next day.

"What are you doing?" Makomo asked as she walked towards Sabito.

The Water Pillar was standing between some of the trees, staring at Tanjiro swinging his sword.

"His hands are bleeding." Sabito said, noticing a few drops of blood falling to the ground. "Yet he keeps training."

"That's right." The girl agreed. "So why are you spying on him? You even made sure to stand downwind and to cover your scent so he couldn't sniff you out."

"…" The man with the tri-color haori simply turned around and walked back to Urokodaki's house.

Makomo looked at Tanjiro train a moment longer, making her smile grow slightly before also turning back and follow her friend.

* * *

Six months since Tanjiro began to try to cut the boulder.

"Hah!" The Kamado swung his sword yet the rock remained unharmed. 'Am I hopeless?' He thought, realizing that after six months he wasn't any closer to cutting the boulder than when he began.

He had been training non-stop, thinking that he only needed to try even harder but his mental fortitude was finally beginning to crumble as he saw he was running out of sunlight and the boulder was still intact.

'Is Nezuko going to die without ever waking up?' He felt like crying, he wanted to scream in frustration at his weakness. 'I'll almost give in! I'm breaking down!'

THUD

Before he could continue that line of thought, Tanjiro hit his head against the boulder.

"Keep working, me! You can do it!" He yelled at himself, head butting the boulder one more time.

"Shut up!" Someone called from behind him, making Tanjiro flinch andvturn around. "A man shouldn't whine. It's unseemly."

"Sabito-san?" The Kamado asked. "What-?"

"No matter how much you suffer, bear it in silence." Sabito continued, his mask had been moved to the side of his head and he was holding a wooden sword in his right hand while his real one was kept at its sheath. "If you call yourself a man, that is."

Without any warning, Sabito closed the distance and struck at Tanjiro, the red haired kid barely had time to move his sword in the middle, blocking the strike, only to be sent flying to the side from a kick Sabito followed with.

"Slow. Weak. Immature." The swordsman said, glaring at Tanjiro's prone form. "That's not what you call a man."

"What are you doing?" Tanjiro demanded.

"That's what I'd like to ask, what do you think you're doing?"

"What? I'm training." The Kamado answered, thinking it was obvious.

"How long are you going to stay on the ground without taking a stance?" Realizing what he meant, the red eyed boy quickly got up and prepared his sword. "Come on." Sabito said, using his free hand to make a 'bring it on' gesture. "Come at me."

"But you have a wooden sword, and I have a real one!"

The Demon Slayer let his free hand fall to his side before bursting out laughing as if he was just told a great joke.

"Well, well!" He began, getting his laughter under control and grinning a savage grin. "Thank you for worrying about me. So, you think you're actually going to injure me!" Once again, he closed the distance before Tanjiro could realize it and did a downward slash, making his wooden sword clash with the hilt of Tanjiro's weapon.

The Kamado could barely keep him at bay by focusing all his strength in pushing back against the taller male.

"Well, you have absolutely nothing to worry about! Do you think I passed the Final Selection without completing my training?"

'Does that mean… he can slice the boulder?' Tanjiro was about to voice his question when Sabito jumped behind him and used a nearby tree as a foothold to lunge towards him, this time clashing his sword with his.

Without giving Tanjiro any breathing room, Sabito began to jump around the place, using the trees and the ground to circle around the Demon Slayer in training.

'Where is he? I can't follow his movements.' The red haired boy thought, trying to predict were his opponent would appear. 'Cr-gah!'

Only for Sabito to suddenly appear at his right and hit him in the face with enough force to send him to the ground.

"You've learned nothing." The swordsman berated. "You haven't mastered a single thing!" He continued as Tanjiro tried to get up. "Particularly, the breathing technique Urokodaki-san taught you, Total Concentration Breathing."

'The breathing technique?' Tanjiro repeated, noticing how he mentioned that one thing in particular.

"All you did was memorize it as fact." Sabito didn't let up and pointed his wooden sword at him as if accusing him. "Your body has no clue what it needs to do." While listening to him, the boy with the hanafuda earrings managed to get back up. "What the hell were you doing for a whole year and a half?"

Without waiting for an answer, Sabito struck again, clashing his weapon against the younger's guard.

"Slam it into your flesh!" He said before stopping the clash and begin a flurry of attacks. "More!" The peach haired man yelled, not relenting in the slightest. "More!" He pushed Tanjiro back and the moment he had regained his footing rushed at him again, still exchanging blows. "So that you'll never forget the secrets Urokodaki-san taught you! Pound it into the marrow of your bones!"

"I'm trying!" Tanjiro answered, barely parrying a strike. "I'm trying every single day! With everything I've got!" His voice began to crack. "But I'm not making any headway! I just can't go any further!"

"Go further!" Sabito yelled in response, increasing the speed of his slashes to get past Tanjiro's defense and hitting his body. "If you call yourself a man there's no way to go but forward!" Another clash of weapons that Tanjiro barely managed to keep up with. "Bring it on!" The red haired kid jumped backwards, avoiding a downward slash. "Show me what you're capable of!" Sabito taunted, standing his ground and holding his sword parallel to the ground while pointing at Tanjiro.

Letting out a wordless battle cry, Tanjiro lunged forward, for the first time attacking since their spar began. He brought his sword up and as fast as he was able brought it down.

Only for Sabito to move slightly to the side to avoid the hit, use his left leg as a pivot to spin in place and hit him upwards on his chin, knocking him out.

Relaxing his stance, the swordsman let out a sigh.

"I'm leaving the rest to you." He said without turning backwards.

"Hm." Makomo nodded, having approached the moment the spar was over. "You could have hold back a bit more, you know?"

"I held back just enough." Answering that, Sabito took the mask from the side of his head and secured it on his hip again while walking towards the boulder, jumping on top of it and then sitting down.

.

.

"Hngg." Tanjiro opened his eyes, wondering for a moment why he was laying down in the ground before he remembered his spar against Sabito.

"Are you alright?" Makomo asked, kneeling at his side.

The red haired boy quickly moved to a sitting position and turned to her.

"Did you see that just now?"

"Hm?" The girl tilted her head slightly.

"It was an amazing strike! Not a single bit of wasted motion! It was really beautiful!"

'He just got beaten into unconsciousness and he's praising the one responsible?' Makomo thought. 'I was half expecting him to complain.'

"I want to become like that! You think I can become like him?"

Letting a smile grace her features, Makomo answered.

"I'm sure you can, I'll be looking after you." She said before turning towards the boulder. "No complaints, right Sabito?"

The Kamado turned in the same direction to see that Sabito was sitting on top of the boulder with his back at them.

"Once a week." The other Demon Slayer said before standing up. "I'll be coming here once a week to assess your progress, if any of those times I see that you haven't moved the slightest bit further since the week before I will break your bones." With that, the peach haired man disappeared.

'He is embarrassed.' Makomo thought, holding back a giggle. 'Well, I'm sure he wasn't expecting to be praised for knocking someone out.'

"Right! Thank you very much!" Tanjiro yelled, hoping Sabito could still hear him. "Makomo-san, you said that you would help me, can we begi…" In the middle of his sentence, Tanjiro suddenly felt dizzy and had to use a hand to stop himself from falling back down.

"We'll begin tomorrow." The black haired girl said. "Training is important but your body can't go on without a proper rest."

Nodding, albeit reluctantly, Tanjiro made his way back Urokodaki's home to sleep.

* * *

The next day, Makomo began helping Tanjiro with his training.

"First, we will work on your bad habits, I noticed a few during your spar with Sabito and it's better to get rid of them sooner rather than later." She explained.

"Understood." The red haired boy nodded. "But before that, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Why are you helping me?" He asked. "I'm grateful but since Urokodaki-san said that he won't train me anymore I thought I had to manage on my own."

"There's no rule like that." Makomo answered, gently shaking her head. "As to why we're helping you… I'll tell you if you slice the boulder, is that okay?"

"Yes!"

"Take a stance."

He did as told and unsheathed his sword, paying close attention to what Makomo pointed out as his bad habits and making sure to get rid of them.

* * *

A week later.

"Gah!" Tanjiro was knocked into the ground by an horizontal strike from Sabito. "Damn it."

"That's enough." The peach haired man said moving his mask from the side of his head to his hip, turning around and walking away.

'He is not going to break my bones?'

"Do you want to call it a day?" Makomo asked, having approached the fallen boy after Sabito left.

"No, please train me." He answered immediately. "Ah, I have another question."

"Go ahead."

"I remember Sabito-san pointing out Total Concentration Breathing in particular during our first spar, why is that?"

Makomo pointed to her mouth and nose with her index and middle finger before answering.

"See, Total Concentration Breathing accelerates your blood circulation and your heart rate." She begins. "That causes your body temperature to spike, making you as strong as a demon while staying human. The important thing is to expand your lung capacity; when you bring lots of air into your blood and when your blood gets excited, your bones and muscles scurry to heat up and grow stronger."

'I'm not sure I get it.' Tanjiro thought, his expression revealing his thoughts. "How can I do that?"

Makomo smiled a smile that seemed too gentle for the next words that she spoke.

"Train to death." She said. "At the end of the day, there's nothing else you can do."

* * *

The next two months became a blur for Tanjiro, with him training until he felt like his arms and legs were about to fall off and his lungs and heart were about to burst, yet he continued to swing his sword.

Like Sabito said, he would visit every week and they would spar, every time Sabito would use a wooden sword and every time he would almost effortlessly defeat his sibling disciple.

Tanjiro was actually afraid that he would break his bones each time he declared the fight as over, thinking that he hadn't made any progress but Sabito never did. The one time he asked about it Sabito answered 'I made it clear, I would only break your bones if you hadn't made any progress since our last spar', in other words, while he couldn't defeat Sabito the older male was acknowledging that he had made progress.

Makomo stayed with him most of the time, she would go for about a day or two every once in a while, not before giving Tanjiro instructions about what he should practice and to correct certain bad habits he had picked up but she always came back and continued to help.

"Are you alright?" Makomo asked.

Tanjiro was currently laying face up on the ground, trying to catch his breath.

"I'm… fine…" He answered between pants, trying to get his breathing under control.

"Take a ten minute break and then we'll continue."

"Under…stood." The Kamado said, moving to a sitting position and managing to get his breath under control after a while. "By the way, are you and Sabito-san siblings?"

"Hmm? No, do we look alike?"

"Not exactly, I was just wondering."

"We're both orphans, our families were killed by demons." She revealed with a sad smile.

"…I'm sorry; I didn't want to make you remember that."

"It's fine." She assured him. "Urokodaki-san took us in and helped us, he had taken a lot of disciples before us too."

"Where are they now? I'd like to meet them." He asked, smiling innocently.

That was the only question Makomo didn't answer, instead she smiled and said.

"We love Urokodaki-san very much."

'This scent… sadness.' Tanjiro thought, deciding to drop the subject.

"Break is over, ready?"

"Yes!"

* * *

Four months later.

Almost an entire year has passed since Tanjiro began trying to cut the boulder and six months since Sabito and Makomo began to train him.

In that time, except for taking care of his basic needs and any rests his body demanded lest he ended up falling apart, the now fifteen year old took Makomo's advice to heart and trained himself to death.

His hair had grown and was now reaching his neck and his clothes were covered in dirt since he barely allowed himself time to wash them every few days.

"After half a year, finally, you have the face of a man." Sabito said, although his stern expression didn't change.

The two were in the clearing where they first spar, snow was covering the ground and snowflakes gently fell down on them but neither seemed to mind or feel cold.

Throwing away his wooden sword, Sabito unsheathed his real one, for the first time wielding a real weapon against Tanjiro.

The boy noticed the unusual color of the sword, it being a dark blue, but didn't pay much attention to it.

"Today, I'll win." He declared, already holding his sword with both hands in front of him.

"Bring it." Sabito answered, mirroring his stance.

During all this, Makomo stood to the side, watching the two.

'Sniff it out, the opening thread.' Tanjiro thought, using the breathing technique he had almost killed himself to learn. 'I've been noticing the scent of a thread every time I see an opening in Sabito-san's stance, find it.'

'Good.' Sabito thought, maintaining his glare despite the smile that threatened to appear. 'You have truly trained hard, Tanjiro, let's see if it was enough.'

'…there.' The moment he noticed the scent of a thread he could see an invisible thread connected from his blade to the opening in Sabito's stance growing taut. 'Here I go!'

Without any signal, Tanjiro lunged forward, his sword poised for a downward strike.

Sabito stood unmoving, waiting for him to approach and the instant just before Tanjiro's sword would have connected, he moved out of the way.

'Damn it! The thread broke!' The Kamado thought, ready to block Sabito's counter attack, but it never came.

Instead of attacking, Sabito had turned his back on him, sheathed his sword and moved his mask to his hip as he always did when they were done fighting.

"Excellent." The peach haired man said simply.

"Eh?"

"Tanjiro." Makomo called out. "Look in front of you."

He did as told and then noticed it, Sabito had been standing right in front of the boulder and waited until the last moment to dodge so the red haired teen couldn't stop his attack and instead of hitting Sabito, it hit the boulder that was now split in two halves.

Tanjiro could only stare, almost not believing that he actually managed to cut that thing but he didn't have time to process it as he heard footsteps approaching him.

Standing upright, he turned around to see the man with the tengu mask approaching him and looking at the boulder.

"Urokodaki-san…"

"I had no intention of sending you to the Final Selection." He began, surprising the red haired teen. "I didn't want to tempt fate anymore after Makomo. I was sure you wouldn't be able to slice this boulder, but…" Trailing off, the older man turned to Tanjiro and moved a hand to his head. "Well done, my boy!" He said, smiling behind his mask. "Tanjiro, you're a remarkable kid!"

It was those words that finally made him realize it, he had done it, all the training, all the pain he endured, it wasn't for nothing.

He didn't even realize when tears began to fall form his eyes but didn't bother to wipe them.

"Make sure you come back alive from the Final Selection." Urokodaki said, hugging him. "Sabito, Makomo, your sister and I will be waiting for you here."

"Y-yes!" Tanjiro answered through sobs.

"Isn't this great Sabito?" Makomo asked her taller friend.

"No, not yet at least." He answered with a melancholic expression. "It will be great when he comes back."

"…you're right, we still need to tell him." She agreed.

"But that can wait a bit." Sabito said, smiling at the sight.

"Yeah" The girl nodded. "it can wait."

* * *

**Ok, so I thought about making this a bit longer but I genuinely liked this as a stopping point so I'll leave this chapter here.**

**Next time, the Water Breathing users talk and the Final Selection begins!**

**Before you go, I thought I'd take a page from the anime and share a secret with you.**

**Just in case, SPOILER ALERT for the manga, you have been warned.**

**Have you noticed that Uzui Tengen's wives each share personalities with Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu? Hinatsuru with Tanjiro, Makio with Inosuke and Suma with Zenitsu.**

**END OF SPOILERS**

**I think that's it, I hope you enjoyed and don't be shy about leaving reviews!**

**Until next time.**


	4. Final Selection

**Final Selection**

**Welcome once again!**

**Guest review answer corner.**

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**Guest: Hello.**

**You're welcome and thanks for leaving a review, I hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

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**Wow, I'll be honest here, I did not expect this much support for the story.**

**I did think that it would get a good amount of it, just not this much, really, thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows.**

**Without further ado, on with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

After Tanjiro calmed down, he was told to take a bath and get changed and then go to the house.

When he arrived, Urokodaki was cooking a lot of food in the grill in the middle of the living room, there were several fish and a hot pot filled with meat and vegetables.

Sabito and Makomo were sitting around it, waiting for the red haired teen to arrive.

"Whoa." He let out, as he saw the amount of food before taking a seat. "What's the occasion? There's so much."

"You've completed all your training, so we're celebrating." His master answered, his tone giving away the smile that his mask hid, as he served him a bowl of the hot pot and offered it to him. "Don't be shy, eat up."

"Thank you very much!" The Kamado said smiling before beginning to eat with gusto.

Unbeknownst to him, the other three exchanged glances in a silent conversation and, without giving so much as a nod to each other, thought the same thing.

'It can wait a bit longer.'

"Seconds please!"

.

.

After the feast was over.

"Urokodaki-san, do you have a pair of scissors that I can borrow?" The youngest in the room asked.

"Hm? Yes, Sabito, could you get them?"

The aforementioned nodded and got up from the floor, went to a closet drawer and took a pair of scissors that he then gave to Tanjiro.

"What are you using them for?" Sabito asked.

"I want to cut my hair, it's gotten too long." He answered.

"I can do it if you want." Makomo offered. "I cut Sabito and Giyu's hair from time to time so I have some practice."

"Really? Thank you." Tanjiro accepted, giving the scissors to the girl.

Meanwhile, Sabito began to clean up what they used for the food.

"Hey, Tanjiro…" The oldest in the room called out.

"Yes?" He asked, not moving his head to not bother Makomo.

"Did you enjoy the hot pot?"

"Yes! I haven't had such a feast in so long!"

"A growing boy like you with a hearty appetite should get stronger the more he eats, as well as grow bigger in size." Sakonji began. "But that goes for demons, too." The smile in the teen's face vanished as he heard this. "Remember this; basically, a demon is as strong as the number of humans he's devoured."

"So, the more they eat, the stronger they get?"

"That's right." His master confirmed. "There are demons who gain power, become able to transform their bodies, and even use strange spells."

"And there is such a demon in the Final Selection." Sabito continued, earning the attention of the younger male. "Tanjiro, I'm sure you've noticed the masks Makomo and I always carry."

"Yes." He answered.

"They were a gift from Urokodaki-san after we completed our training." Makomo said, still cutting his hair.

"Oh, am I getting one too then?"

"No." The three said at the same time, surprising the Kamado.

"There is a reason for it." Sabito continued, taking his own mask in his hand and showing it. "This is the second mask Urokodaki-san has given me, the first one I lost it during the Final Selection… after almost dying to a demon that shouldn't have been there."

"What… what do you mean?" Tanjiro asked, a bit fearfully.

"They will tell you some of this when you arrive at Mt. Fujikasane but we need to tell you now because you are one of Urokodaki-san's disciples." The girl behind him said, still cutting his hair.

"Mt. Fujikasane is covered in Wisteria flowers all year round and that prevents demons from approaching it _and_ from leaving it, Demon Slayers capture demons and trap them inside for the Final Selection." The masked man began. "When I was active, I captured a few demons and sent them there; one of them, one that I captured 47 years ago, has managed to survive all this time."

"47 years ago?!" Tanjiro repeated.

"Yes." Sakonji nodded. "Before Sabito and Giyu underwent the Final Selection, every disciple I sent there… died." He said, scowling behind his mask.

"That demon has a grudge against Urokodaki-san and since he can't get out, it tries to kill any disciples he sends." Sabito continued. "That's not to say he won't kill others but he targets us in particular."

"I went to the Final Selection the year after Sabito and Giyu, I didn't take a mask since Sabito had informed us about that demon and he said it recognized him because of it." Makomo chimed in. "I ran into him by chance and it recognized the Water Breathing Style, marking me as a student of Urokodaki-san and chasing after me, I had to escape from him for two days."

"Two days?!"

"I had a break when the sun was up but I could always feel it watching me." She answered.

"I already made a mask for you Tanjiro, but I will only give it to you once you come back from the Final Selection." Urokodaki spoke again.

"But wait, if that demon is that strong, shouldn't they send someone to kill it?"

"That's the first thing I brought up when I became a Pillar but you see Tanjiro." Sabito said. "That demon is weak." The peach haired man sighed. "The 'us' from back then couldn't have defeated him, heck my sword snapped when I tried to cut his neck but if we were to face it now, it wouldn't even be a fight, his head would fall before he can even realize it."

'…he is not exaggerating.' Tanjiro noticed. 'His tone and scent… he knows how strong that demon is and that, when compared to other demons, it is weak.'

"Despite the name, the Final Selection is nothing but the starting line, the demons you encounter after it will almost always be stronger." Makomo spoke again. "You don't have to defeat that demon, technically, you don't even have to defeat _any_ demons, all you have to do is survive and you pass."

"Tanjiro, that goes double for you." The masked man said, moving towards him and kneeling so they were at both eye-level. "Your objective is to turn your sister back into a human and _no one_ can take that burden from you so, no matter what, focus on surviving first and foremost."

The Kamado gulped.

"I understand."

"I'm done." Makomo declared.

"Thank you, Makomo-san." Tanjiro answered.

"Just Makomo is fine." The girl said smiling.

.

.

Later that night.

Tanjiro had listened to the description his master and sibling disciples gave of the demon to know what to avoid and after that, they all went to sleep.

'Hngg… bathroom.' The red haired teen thought, groggily removing the blankets on top of him and getting up from the futon.

As carefully and silently as possible, he exited the house to the outdoor bathroom and when he went back he noticed something.

"Sabito-san?" More precisely, someone, Sabito was sitting on the roof of the house staring at the night sky. 'What is he doing there?' Tanjiro wondered before moving closer to the house and jumping on top of the roof.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Sabito asked the moment Tanjiro landed on the roof.

"I had to use the bathroom and then I saw you here." The red haired teen answered honestly. "What are you doing?"

"Just reminiscing." He answered, still looking at the sky.

"Reminiscing?" The Kamado repeated, tilting his head slightly.

"About the Final Selection." The Demon Slayer disclosed. "I wouldn't say that it hunts me but remembering the time that you almost died tends to make you think… not that I haven't had any close calls since but…" He shrugged as if dismissing the topic.

"How was the Final Selection?" Tanjiro asked, sitting beside him. "For you, at least."

"Difficult, fighting for your life against demons is different from training in these mountains." The peach haired man answered. "Some of the traps may be lethal but Urokodaki-san makes sure to only move to those once he is sure you can handle them, demons aren't that kind." He then let out a sigh. "Then again, I did make things more difficult than necessary for myself."

"Eh, what do you mean?"

"In my arrogance, I vowed to myself to save everyone during the Final Selection." Sabito answered with an unreadable look.

"And… you couldn't?" He guessed.

"Oh no, I did, if only barely."

"Really?" The Kamado asked in astonishment. "That's amazing!"

"Not really." The quiet answer sapped any excitement from the younger's face and replaced it with a dubious look. "Tanjiro, almost every person that took the Final Selection alongside me, is dead." Sabito said, looking down. "Don't get me wrong, I don't regret saving them, I would never regret saving someone, but… the Demon Slayers are supposed to protect people from demons because they can't protect themselves, we can't afford to also protect other Demon Slayers… it's simply not possible to protect everyone."

"…Why not?" He asked after a small pause, earning the grey eyed man's attention. "I mean, I agree that it's impossible on your own but, if there is someone you can't save alone you just have to get help." The red haired teen continued unaware of how Sabito's eyes had widened at his statement. "And Urokodaki-san said that the Demon Slayer corps is a few hundred in numbers, so if one Demon Slayer can protect the people, two could protect the people and each other, right?"

"…"

"…"

"Pff… hahahaha." Out of nowhere, Sabito began to laugh heartily. 'It's absurdly naïve to think that just numbers would be enough… but maybe…' "I will bring that up during the next Pillar meeting." He said between chuckles.

"You mentioned that before, what's a Pillar?"

"'Pillar' is a title given to the best nine Demon Slayers, I hold the position of the Water Pillar, Giyu is my Tsuguko, my successor." He let out a chuckle. "Although in terms of skill, he is already Pillar level."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he won't get the position until I retire or die, though, and I have no intention of doing either any time soon but I've been preparing him just in case."

"Oh…"

"Demon Slayers aren't guaranteed a long life, it's always better to be prepared for the worse." His expression suddenly turned serious. "Tanjiro, don't be like me."

"Eh, what do you mean?" He asked, surprised at the sudden change in topic.

"Makomo already said this but the Final Selection is nothing but the starting line, especially for you." The peach haired man locked gazes with him. "I won't tell you to not help others but don't put someone else's life above your own, if not for yourself then for your sister."

"…I understand." Tanjiro nodded, matching his gaze.

"And since it was brought up, I should remind you, I still plan to test your sister and should she fail, I _will_ cut off her head."

"Nezuko would never eat humans." The Kamado answered, completely confident in his answer.

The staring match continued for a few seconds before Sabito's expression softened.

"I genuinely hope you're right." He said, before looking back at the sky.

"…can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Why did you and Makomo help me?"

"…because we can see ourselves in you, I guess." He answered with a small smile. "We watched you train for six months after Urokodaki-san told you to cut the boulder, you were in pain, you were frustrated, it's normal to feel that way, but that only made you train harder, we can relate to that… plus, you have a chance that a lot of Demon Slayers would give almost anything to have."

At the Kamado's confused expression, Sabito elaborated.

"Having your family killed by demons or a member of your family turn into one is not a strange story among Demon Slayers." His small smile turned into one filled with sadness. "Having the chance to turn a member of your family back into a human, on the other hand, I am almost completely certain that you're the first to have that." He turned towards him once again. "Make sure you succeed."

"I will." Tanjiro answered, his eyes filled with determination. "Thank you for everything Sabito-san."

"I've been pummeling you into the ground for six months." He said with a grin. "You can take out the 'san'."

* * *

Sabito and Makomo left the day after the feast; the two wished him luck and promised to visit after he passed the Final Selection.

Three days later, Tanjiro was about to leave Mt. Sagiri so he could make it in time for the Final Selection.

He had dressed in his usual outfit of grey kimono top and baggy black pants but left his haori behind.

'Just one thing to do before going.' With that thought, he walked towards Nezuko's room and opened the door.

Every time he did this, he hoped to see his sister awake but for two years now, the sight of his sister sleeping hasn't changed. Today was no exception.

Kneeling besides her, he grabbed one of her hands with both of his.

"Nezuko, I promise I'll come back here." He vowed to her.

After a few seconds, he moved her hand back to the futon, left the room and grabbed the sword his master lent him.

"Are you ready?" Urokodaki asked.

"Yes." Tanjiro answered and the two exited the house.

"Don't worry about your sister, I'll take good care of her." The masked man promised.

"All right!" The Kamado nodded. "Thank you very much." With that he began to walk away. "I'll be going, then, Urokodaki-san!" He said, waving with his right hand.

The older man imitated the gesture and stood in place until his disciple was out of sight.

"I pray that you come back unharmed, Tanjiro."

* * *

The travel to Mt. Fujikasane was uneventful and by the time he made it night had settled in.

'I'm finally here.' The Kamado thought as he walked along the path of the mountain.

The area was covered in trees that had wisteria flowers around them to the point they seemed to glow, giving the entire area a purple tint.

'It's amazing that there are so many even when they're out of season.' He thought to himself looking around as he continued walking forward.

Not much later he saw a large staircase that, according to his master, would get him to the starting area of the Final Selection and began to climb.

.

.

When Tanjiro reached the top of the stairs, he saw a clearing where the others that were going to undergo the Final Selection were.

There were two red poles acting as a gate right after the stairs and a path made of rock to a small shrine a few feet forward with two other red poles acting as a gate for it.

At each side of the shrine there was a set of stairs leading further up the mountain and several rocks at the sides of the clearing that some people were sitting on or leaning against.

'There are so many.' The red haired teen thought, looking around at the people gathered. 'They all seem to be around my age.'

"Everyone…" Two voices called out in unison.

'Those girls… no, one is a boy.' Tanjiro corrected himself, noticing their scents.

Most people there probably made the same mistake when they saw the two, they looked like almost identical twins wearing the same purple kimono with flower patterns and a green obi, the only real difference between the two was the color of their hair, the boy having black hair and the girl white hair and a headpiece in the form of a wisteria flower placed on the boy's left side and the girl's right.

"We thank you for coming here tonight to the Demon Slayer Corps Final Selection." The two continued, still talking at the same time.

"There are demons imprisoned here on Mt. Fujikasane, captured alive by the Demon Slayer swordsmen, and unable to leave." The girl explained.

"That is because wisteria, which demons hate so much, blooms year-round from the bottom to halfway up the mountain." The boy continued.

"However, there is no wisteria from this point on, and so demons abound."

"You'll need to survive here for seven days to pass the Final Selection."

"And now, be on your way." The two finished in unison, giving a small bow.

Without exchanging words, everyone began to climb up the stairs to the testing area.

.

.

In a lot of ways, Mt. Fujikasane was almost identical to Mt. Sagiri, trees covered most of the area, the grass was high enough to reach a person's ankles, and large rocks were strewn around.

The two major differences Tanjiro could notice at first glance were that the air was nowhere near as thin as in the mountain he trained in and that there weren't any traps around.

Of course, even without traps, this mountain was _far_ more dangerous.

'Survive for seven days… that's all I'm going to think about.' The red haired teen thought as he moved around the forest, making sure to pay attention to his surroundings. 'First, I'm going to survive tonight. Once the sun comes up, the demons won't be able to do anything, so I can get some rest then.' He wasn't tired at the moment but if he had to survive seven days then he'll have to get as much sleep as he can during the day, not to mention find a source of water and food. 'So, I'll have to head east, I'm gonna make my way to where the sunlight will hit first!' With those thoughts, he began running in a straight line towards the east.

He had been moving for some time when his nose picked up a certain scent.

The Kamado immediately stopped moving and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

'This smell… it's a demon! And it's nearby' There was no way he wouldn't notice it. While certainly different, it was too similar to the smell of the demon he encountered two years ago in that temple for him not to realize what it was. 'Where is it? Where's it coming from?' He continued to look around but, try as he might, he couldn't see the demon or pinpoint its location with his sense of smell.

Not until it got closer.

"From above?" He had already looked up before those words left his mouth and a moment later he jumped to the side, rolling on the ground a few times before correcting his posture, moving to a kneeled position with one knee on the ground and his hand once again on his sword, ready to draw.

The small cloud of smoke that the demon created with its landing dissipated to reveal his enemy.

It was a male demon wearing a sleeveless yellow shirt and black pants, he didn't have anything on his feet and his hair was blue and reached past his neck, he had his tongue out and was at least three times the size of a human with a hole near the tip and his eyes were wide open and the pupils slit; aside from that, his skin was an unnatural shade of gray with veins bulging across his arms and forehead, he had three horns protruding from his head, two on the right side and one on the left and his arms seemed to have grown an extra bone as there was a blade-like protuberance starting from his wrists and dividing from the rest of the arm.

But Tanjiro didn't have time to focus on that demon as a second one tried to attack him from behind, swinging a claw-like hand at him, he managed to draw his sword and block the attack but was sent skidding backwards from the sheer strength behind it.

This new demon was a lot more human-like than the first, the only thing that he shared with the first one being the skin color, the slit eyes and the veins bulging.

Aside from that, the new demon had short brown hair, black pants and was wearing a two-colored kimono top, its left side been a dark green and the right side a light green.

"You bastard!" The first demon said, lunging against the second one, trying to stab him with the protuberance in his arm.

The second one managed to react in time and use his hands to block the arm, putting the two at a deadlock.

"Don't even try to grab my prey, man!" The horned demon yelled. "Get off my turf, dammit!"

"The hell with you! Just beat it!" The more human-like demon yelled back.

But Tanjiro didn't pay attention to their bickering; he had other things to worry about.

'Two of them right from the get-go?' He gulped, his body trembling slightly against his will. 'Can I take them?'

The Kamado didn't have any time to doubt himself as the two demons decided to attack him, the second one yelling 'it's first come, first served!', although they will probably fight each other to see who eats him after killing him.

If they get to kill him, that is.

Seeing the two demons lunge at him, Tanjiro raised his sword, blocking the first attack and parrying the follow-up by the other demon.

The brown haired demon took the chance to kick Tanjiro, making him move his sword to block and jump backwards to soften the blow.

'I'm okay! Just calm down and watch their movements!' The red haired teen thought calming down his breathing. 'Remember the training!'

Ignoring whatever the demons were saying, Tanjiro took a deep breath.

'Total Concentration! Water Breathing!' The world seemed to slow down and the scent of the thread appeared. 'Not yet, they're loose, wait for it.' Moving his sword down, he waited a moment longer and the threads grew taut. 'Now! Fourth Form!' Charging against the demons the sword suddenly looked like it was gushing out water as Tanjiro moved his entire body in an upwards motion with the sword aimed at the neck and cut the head of the more humanoid demon before his attack could connect; not stopping, he then spun his body to dodge the second's attack and cut his head at the same time. 'Striking Tide!'

The two headless bodies fell to the ground and began to turn to ash, as Tanjiro landed on his feet and turn around to see if he had done it.

Taking a moment to get his breathing under control again, the teen relaxed his posture.

'I did it! I defeated demons!' He thought, almost not believing it but the sight in front of him didn't lie. 'I've grown stronger! All that training wasn't for nothing! I've mastered it!' The Kamado felt a few tears fall from his eyes as he realized this but quickly wiped them away and approached the two quickly vanishing bodies, remembering the words of his master when he first began to learn how to use a sword.

'_A demon's weak point is its neck! But you can't kill it with a normal sword even if you slash its neck. The swords wielded by the Demon Slayer Corps were forged with a special kind of steel, that's the only way to kill a demon. They're called Nichirin Swords_'

'When I cut them with the sword Urokodaki-san lent me, even the bones and the clothes disintegrate.' He thought, looking at the last remnants of the bodies. Sheathing his sword with practiced ease, he placed his hands together in prayer. 'Rest in peace.'

He was still in mid-prayer when his nose caught a new scent, one so disgusting that he covered his nose out of reflex.

"What's this rotten smell?" He thought out loud.

A second later, he heard someone yell and saw another participant running.

"No one ever told me! I never signed up for this!" He yelled as he kept running away while glancing behind.

Tanjiro quickly moved behind a tree and peeked around it to see what had that person running away-

He immediately moved behind the tree, his expression morphing into one of horror and his breath becoming shallow.

'_Listen Tanjiro, while I'm certain you will find some demons that have mutated to a less human appearance, the demon we're talking about is on another level._' Sabito's words passed through his mind as he remembered the description he was given.

This demon that was currently marching towards the running participant matched it to a T.

"What's this morphed demon doing here anyway?" The participant said out loud before tripping on the root of a tree. "They didn't tell us!"

The only word that could describe the demon was monstrous; his skin was green and he looked like a giant, fleshy, moving boulder with multiple pair of arms wrapped around himself and a few of those been used to walk instead of its legs, assuming it still had legs, there was no way to tell among the various arms that covered his body.

In one of its many arms, he was holding the body of a dead boy, probably a year or two older than Tanjiro. Slowly, he raised the dead body and opened his mouth, a maw proportional to its size with jagged teeth, and devoured the human.

'He got eaten!' Tanjiro thought in horror as the demon chewed his food and, once he finished, grew slightly bigger.

Screaming in terror, the downed participant got to his feet and made a run for it.

The demon didn't have any intention of letting him get away, though. He extended some of its arms forward and they seemed to merge together before shooting off against their target.

One of them caught the boy by his ankle and pulled him back, lifting him off the ground.

The Kamado watched all of this with trembling eyes.

'_Tanjiro, if you encounter that demon, unless you have no other choice, run._' Makomo's warning sounded in his mind.

Yet, he couldn't bring himself to abide by it.

'Save him! Save him! Save him!' His entire body seemed to scream for him to help, finding the idea of even considering letting the boy be eaten and run disgusting. 'I'm not powerless anymore, move!'

Forcing his body to stop trembling, Tanjiro unsheathed his sword and jumped towards the arm that was lowering the human towards the demon's mouth.

'Water Breathing, Second Form!' Using Total Concentration Breathing, he poised his sword to strike as it once again was enveloped in water and when he reached his objective he spun in mid-air using his sword to cut off all the arms the mutated demon had shot against the participant. 'Water Wheel!'

Tanjiro landed easily on the ground while the boy he just saved fell on his back a few feet from him, he quickly moved towards him.

"Stand up, we need to go!" The Kamado said helping the boy to his feet and the two began to run away.

"That move…" The hand demon thought out loud, looking at the two fleeing swordsmen. "Another sweet little fox has come to me." He said, the various arms covering the monstrous grin on his face.

His arms regenerated and he quickly began to pursue the two.

.

"What the hell is a demon like that doing here?!" The boy Tanjiro just saved yelled.

He looks about Tanjiro's age with short black hair, wearing a buttoned up white shirt with a green kimono jacket on top and grey baggy pants.

"There shouldn't be any demons like that in this mountain!"

"Calm d- move!" Tanjiro was about to try and calm him but pushed him away and then jumped to the opposite side.

A moment later the hand demon fell from the sky, making a small crater where he landed.

"Hello, little fox." The demon said with sadistic glee.

Letting out another whimper, the black haired boy ran away.

'It's not chasing him.' Tanjiro thought, noticing that the demon didn't even bother looking in the direction of the fleeing swordsman. 'That means it's focused on me, in that case…'

"Tell me little fox cub- get back here!"

Ignoring the screams from behind him, Tanjiro ran in the opposite direction of the other participant.

'I don't need to fight; if it's going to chase me then I can just keep it busy by making it chase me around.' The red haired teen thought as he made his way through the forest.

"You're not escaping." The hand demon declared, the arms that he was using to move bending until the lower part of his body was touching the ground and then using them to jump, easily passing the surrounding trees' height and then coming down like a boulder almost on top of the Water Breath user.

Tanjiro noticed that the demon was coming from above thanks to his sense of smell and quickly jumped to the side to avoid been crushed.

Not giving him a chance to relax, the demon's many arms shot towards the red haired teen.

Tanjiro side-stepped the first two and cut a third one before jumping to the side to avoid a fourth one.

'I can see them, they're fast but it's not a speed I can't react to.' The swordsman thought, cutting off another pair of arms before they could reach him. 'But they just keep coming; he is not even flinching from having his arms cut off.'

"Did you really think I would let you run away?" The demon asked, his tone conveying the smile that his arms covered. "You're one of Urokodaki's students, aren't you? I would recognize his swordsmanship anywhere."

"That's right!" Tanjiro answered, slicing off another arm.

"Hehe, he must have grown conceited after those cowards, numbers twelve and thirteen, managed to survive." The monster said in a mocking tone, momentarily stopping his rampage.

"What? Twelve and thirteen?"

"The two little foxes that came here before you, they were the first to escape from me." The demon elaborated. "The eleven brats before them already faded from my memory but I remember those two very well; the brat with the pinkish hair and the scar near his mouth, his blade broke when he tried to cut my neck." His expression suddenly turned into a rage filled one. "And yet he was so lucky, the fragments of his sword stabbed me in the eyes and I ended up getting his mask instead of his head!" The demon yelled and began to scratch his own skin with his many arms to the point it drew blood. "He was the first one to escape, even after promising myself that I would get all of Urokodaki's disciples! Then there is the girl with the flowery kimono, she wasn't wearing a mask since the other brat must have told them about me but her swordsmanship gave her away and she just ran for two entire days! If only I had caught sight of her sooner, I would have definitely killed her!" His rage seemed to slowly subside after that sentence as its yellow eyes fixated on Tanjiro. "But you just got here, that means you have seven more days to go before you can leave." Once again, his eyes conveyed the smile his arms covered. "Even if you run like those two cowards I have plenty of time to catch you!" With those words he began to hurl more arms against the red haired teen, making him start dodging and slashing once again.

'Don't let him get to you.' The Kamado thought, grinding his teeth to keep his anger in check. 'It's just like Makomo said, he is just trying to make me angry so I will do something rash, calm down.' Another pair of arms tried to grab him and once again they were sliced off, only for more to follow. 'For now I'll just escape, if it's focusing on me then the rest of the participants will be safe from him.' With that, Tanjiro began to retreat as he cut off the arms, slowly but surely getting more distance and moving to an area where he saw the foliage was thicker and he could hide in order to lose the demon.

"Are you thinking of escaping?" The demon asked. "Are you going to do the same thing the girl did and run? I'll go hunt some of the other brats, if you do."

That one sentence made the Kamado stop his retreat.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

The Hand demon stopped his attacks once again before chuckling.

"I thought about this after that girl kept running away from me." He began, spreading some of his arms for emphasis. "The next time Urokodaki sends one of his disciples here, if they run away, I'll just go catch some of the other participants." This time, the demon let the maw that it had for a mouth open showing a toothy grin with its jagged teeth. "Then I'll tear their limbs one by one so you can hear their screams as they die, hahaha!" He ended his explanation with a laugh that sent chills down Tanjiro's spine.

'Sabito, Makomo, Urokodaki-san… this is what you meant wasn't it?'

* * *

_"Tanjiro." Urokodaki called out after they finished explaining about the hand demon and giving him a warning about running away from him. "I know that we warned you not to take unnecessary risks but you must not misunderstand, when fighting demons, you are always risking your life."_

_"I can guarantee you that this demon won't be the strongest demon you will face." Sabito continued. "But, regardless of that, if your objective is survival then it's fine to escape; sometimes it's better to bring information about a demon you can't defeat so that a stronger Demon Slayer can have an easier time by already knowing its abilities."_

_"But there will also be times when retreat isn't an option." Makomo said next. "And there is a chance that you will find yourself in such a situation during the Final Selection."_

_"But, if you two couldn't manage-" _

_"You're wrong." Makomo interrupted calmly. "Tanjiro, while it's true that we had to cut a boulder to complete our training, ours were smaller than the one you had to cut."_

_"Eh?"_

_"To be exact, my boulder and Giyu's were smaller." The peach haired man chimed in. "I'd say about half the size of yours."_

_"My boulder was about the same size as yours but I don't have enough strength to actually cut the boulder with one strike." The cyan eyed girl continued. "I was able to cut it by using the tenth form and I needed a lot of rotations, when I encountered that demon I judged that I couldn't manage enough rotations while simultaneously avoiding all of its attacks so I decided to escape instead."_

_"From everything we told you before, we may have given you the idea that escaping is your only option if you were to find that demon." The masked man spoke. "If you judge that you can't defeat it then by all means, retreat."_

_"But if you can't retreat then know this…"_

* * *

_'…you are already stronger than we were when we took the Final Selection.'_ Sabito's words rang through his mind, dissipating any doubts he may have had.

'If you can't retreat… win!'

Tightening the grip on his sword, Tanjiro charged against the still laughing demon.

His enemy covered his mouth with the arms before once again beginning his rampage, sending arm after arm against the swordsman.

Tanjiro continued his advance, slashing and dodging the appendages as he charged.

One arm tried to get him just after he sidestepped but was sliced off before it could reach, he jumped over the next one and then rolled to the side to avoid a third one.

'Get closer, aim for his neck!' The Kamado thought to himself.

Keeping his distance was useless now, if he wanted to retreat then step back and gain distance while avoiding the attacks was the obvious choice but after deciding to fight the only way for him to win is by going forward and get in range to cut off the demon's head.

'Keep going, move forward!' Tanjiro sliced off another pair of arms and took four steps forward before having to jump to the side to avoid another ar- 'Wh-?!'

Before he could react, the red haired teen got hit by several smaller arms that seemed to extend from the length of the one he had just side-stepped, sending him flying to the side, hitting the ground a few times and eventually crashing against a tree before falling to the ground unconscious.

The demon, noticing how the human wasn't moving, began to slowly move towards him while chuckling.

"Another of Urokodaki's brats is dying." He said gleefully. "I wonder how he's gonna feel when he realizes those two were a fluke, what kind of look he'll have on his face. Oh, I wish I could see it." The demon said as he extended one arm towards Tanjiro. "I really do."

.

.

'…where am I…?' The Kamado wondered. 'My body feels heavy… I can't move? Is this a dream?'

'…an!'

'Who?'

'…i-chan!'

'Someone is calling me.'

'Nii-chan!'

'Shigeru!'

Tanjiro's eyes snapped open to the sight of a green fist about to crush his head and reacting on instinct more than anything, he kicked the ground and pushed himself backwards, rolling twice before standing upright.

'I can feel blood dripping from the left side of my forehead down my cheek.' Tanjiro thought, even before he finished taking his stance. 'But I don't feel dizzy and my balance isn't off, I can still fight!'

"So, you can still move?" The demon asked, more to himself than the swordsman before his body seemed to convulse and eight arms shot off simultaneously. "Great! I can have some fun!"

Tanjiro managed to cut the first four limbs before jumping backward to avoid a fifth and run from the remaining appendages, although they were soon back to their original number.

'Damn! I know cutting the arms won't bring him down but they grow back in a second!'

"You can't defeat me just by slashing off my arms." The green monster mocked. "Then again, even the twelfth brat couldn't slice off my head! He just ran away and doesn't even have the guts to come back and face me after all these years, no matter how many brats I eat in these mountains!"

Gritting his teeth once more, Tanjiro sliced off another set of arms, gaining a momentary reprieve as the demon called back all of his appendages, probably to send them all together when Tanjiro rushes at him.

'I was wrong; Sabito, Makomo, Urokodaki-san, I understand why you told me not to face demons if I didn't have to but… I can't just let this one go! Even if he hadn't threatened me like he did, before any more lives are sacrificed, I gotta bring him down now!'

With his mind set, Tanjiro once again began his charge and in turn, the demon began to send more arms to intercept him.

'Don't just dodge the arms, he could curve them to hit me, cut them all.' He thought as he quickly closed the distance. 'This scent… from the ground?' Knowing better than to doubt his nose, Tanjiro jumped and a moment later four arms erupted from where he stood a moment ago. 'They can't reach me at this height!'

'H-he jumped! Dammit, I missed him!' The demon thought, the first signs of fear, an emotion he hasn't felt in a long time, appearing at the corner of his mind. 'Yeah, but no way can he dodge this attack in mid-air!' He fused a few of his arms together forming a new, bigger arm and then shot it at the Kamado.

'I can't cut it, I don't have a solid footing to swing my sword!' The swordsman thought. 'Then!' Gritting his teeth, Tanjiro reared his head back end then forward, head-butting the arm and performing a somersault with the momentum.

'He deflected me!' The green skinned demon realized as he saw Urokodaki's student land on his extended arm and quickly run on top of it towards him. 'Take this!' He made more arms appear from the length of the one the human was using as a foothold as well as send one of his many right arms, trying to catch him.

'Total Concentration! Water Breathing!' Tanjiro didn't stop, using the breathing technique to increase his strength, he cut each and every appendage that stood in his way and, once he was in range, jumped from the arm and towards the demon's neck.

'He got too close to me!' The demon thought; fear once again threatening to invade his body.

He may have survived in this mountain forty-seven years but, since his body mutated, he could count the amount of times a sword has gotten close to his neck with just one hand and he is very much aware that if that sword cuts his head, he will die.

'Not to worry, my neck is tough! He can't slash it!' He thought, reassuring himself that he was in no danger. 'As soon as he fails to cut my neck, I'm going to crush his head, don't think that I will miss like with that pinkish haired brat!' Having convinced himself of this, he discarded any attempt at defense and instead sent an arm towards Tanjiro, ready to kill him as soon as his sword breaks.

'There it is, the opening thread!' Holding his sword with just his right hand and having both arms cross over his chest, Tanjiro aimed at the demon's weak point. 'He is not defending!' A sliver of doubt entered his head as he saw his opponent ignore all defense and send an arm towards him but it was swiftly crushed by the memories of his training.

Urokodaki making him run down the mountain, the spars with Sabito, Makomo's instructions and last but not least, the moment he cut the boulder in half.

'There is no time to doubt! Move forward!' Letting out a wordless battle cry his sword was completely engulfed in water as Tanjiro let his momentum get him closer until he was in range. 'First Form!' He began the strike. 'Water Surface Slash!' And his sword swiftly severed the demon's head.

'Urokodaki!' The hand demon said in his mind, as the visage of the demon slayer in his memory overlapped with the swordsman in front of him just before he felt the cold steel pass through his neck.

The demon's head fell, rolling a few times until it stopped on its side looking at his body.

'Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! My body's crumbling and disappearing.' He tried to regenerate but it was useless. 'I can't stop it!' Just as he thought that, Tanjiro walked and stood between the head and its body, looking at the latter while sheathing his sword with practiced ease.

'Dammit!' He cursed again. 'To think that the face of a Demon Slayer will be the last thing I'll ever see.' Just then, Tanjiro turned around to look at the head. 'Eh? What's that? Why are you looking at me like that?' There was no disgust or contempt in those red eyes as he expected to see, on the contrary he looked like he felt sad for him. 'How did it come to this?' He thought as his vision blurred before everything went dark. 'Wait, it's dark, no I don't want to be in the dark! Nii-chan, where are you? I want you to hold my hand! Like you always do! Why? Why did I bite you to death, Nii-chan?' Unconsciously, the demon extended his last remaining arm, not in an attack but as if asking someone to hold his hand. 'Wait, who's this 'Nii-chan' person?'

"What a sad scent." Tanjiro thought out loud, approaching the last remnants of the demon's body and using both hands to hold the extended hand that closed around his.

'What's this? I remember this feeling.' The demon thought, tears falling from his eyes. 'It's warm.'

"God." The Kamado said, placing his forehead against the demon's hand's fingers. "Please, the next time he is reborn, please make sure he doesn't turn into a demon."

Just as he finished his prayer, the body finished crumbling apart and disappeared.

'…it's over.' He thought, letting his arms fall to his side with a sigh.

His relief was short-lived when he heard a creak from behind him and immediately turned around, a hand in his sword.

This was not only because he was still full of adrenaline after his fight with the hand demon but because whatever approached him did so without him being able to smell it. Whether human or demon, he should have picked up a scent long before he was able to hear someone get close to him.

"Don't worry, we don't mean any harm." A voice called out, unperturbed by the teen's actions.

Tanjiro blinked a few times before letting go of his sword and just stare.

In front of him there were eleven people, looking to be about his age based on height and all of them wearing a fox mask similar to the ones Sabito and Makomo always carry with them.

"You are…"

"Thank you for defeating that demon." Another one said.

"Now we can finally rest." A third one commented.

"…I hope your next life will be happier." The Kamado answered with a small smile.

"And we that your current one will be, especially if you really intend to turn your sister back into a human." A fourth one said, surprising the red haired teen.

"How…?"

"We were in Mt. Sagiri." Yet another one answered.

"We all promised Urokodaki-san to go back there after all, you shouldn't break a promise."

"I see." The newest of Urokodaki's disciples answered before bowing. "Thank you."

"No, thank you." The first voice answered before they all began to turn around. "Goodbye."

And just like that, they disappeared among the trees.

'I guess that if I'd ended up dead my soul would've returned there, too.' Allowing himself a few moments to rest, Tanjiro turned towards the east and began to move once again.

The Hand Demon may have been defeated but the Final Selection had just begun.

* * *

**Ok, I'm going to end it here for now.**

**There was another thing I would have liked to include but I felt it would get too long and this felt like a good place to finish the chapter so it will go on the next one.**

**Let me know if you liked it, reviews are always welcome.**

**I hope you enjoyed, until next time.**


	5. New approach

**New approach**

**Guest review answer corner.**

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**Once again, thank you for all the support you're giving this fic!**

**Disclaimer: Same old, same old**

**Kimetsu no Yaiba I do not own.**

**On with the chapter!**

* * *

It has been three days since the Final Selection began, in that time a good number of candidates has died at the hands of the demons inside the wisteria prison, some put up a fight before being defeated, some got caught off guard and didn't have a chance to fight back, some tried to run but were caught by whatever demon was chasing them.

Of course, there were those that didn't die at the hands of the demons and have managed to stay alive so far, some having an easier time than others.

In Kamado Tanjiro's case, he was doing fine all things considered.

After his victory against the Hand Demon he continued moving east in order to be under the sun as soon as possible. The next thing he did was find a source of water, luckily there was a river running down the mountain so he only needed to stay near it and water wouldn't be an issue and there were even some fish there so he could take care of the food problem as well.

He made sure to clean the wound on the left side of his forehead as well as he could but he didn't have any first aid kit since participants were only allowed their clothes and weapons during the Final Selection; nevertheless, he didn't feel bad so the wound shouldn't impair him during the rest of the test.

After drinking water and eating he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, demons couldn't attack him during the day and no demon would be reckless enough to try to move from shade to shade in order to attack a human.

Tanjiro would then wake up with a few hours of sunlight left and would use them to either grab some extra food and/or prepare for the night.

The second night, he realized that having a camp site was a bad idea, as four different demons attempted to attack him together, they didn't pose that much of a threat but if more demons attacked him together he could end up overwhelmed by sheer numbers so when the sun came up again, he used the time to move up the river so any demons that saw him the night before wouldn't find him in the same place.

During his third night, he only met a single demon so he tried to talk to it and asked him if it knew of a way to turn demons back into humans; the only answer he got were a bunch of noises that fit an animal more than a human before he was forced to cut off its head.

And as the fourth night was about to begin.

'Nezuko.' The Kamado thought of his sister as the sun began to set, giving the sky an orange hue. 'I'll find a way to turn you back into a human.' As the last vestiges of sunlight disappeared behind the mountains, Tanjiro repeated his vow and set off in hopes of finding a demon that could answer him.

* * *

Five days since the Final Selection began.

Away from Mt. Fujikasane, Sabito was sitting in seiza in the porch of the backyard of his manor with a pen in one hand and a paper on the ground.

To be exact, though, that wasn't really his house; one of the perks of becoming a Pillar is that you get a house of your own among the many properties that the leader of the Demon Slayer corps owned.

These properties are distributed among Japan in order to cover as much ground as possible. Some have been used for longer than others, whether because a certain family has had a member become a Pillar for several generations or because a former Pillar gave the property to his or her Tsuguko after retiring or, sadly more common, died and left the place to them in their last will.

The manors don't vary much in size and they're all made in more or less the same manner; with wood being the most used material, posts and lintels supporting a large roof that covers the whole structure, with the eaves extending beyond the walls, covering the outside verandas.

Inside the building, there is a small space just after the main door that is still ground level where anyone coming in can leave their footwear before going up the small step to the wooden floor that is the beginning of the house.

The main room is large enough to have at least ten people without feeling cramped and is also used for meals with the kitchen having enough space that three people could cook at the same time and be able to move around without issue.

Aside from that, only three rooms had anything in them, each belonging to one of the three people that reside in the house.

There was also a separate building, far smaller than the main house that is used for training.

While there were some differences between each Pillar's house, such as some of the buildings having their training grounds inside of the main building or the backyard being larger than others the basic structure was the same for all.

The main differences tended to come from how each Pillar personalized their home.

In the Water Pillar's case, he didn't give much thought to decorations, his house looking more or less the same as when he first arrived with all the basics that every Pillar's manor came with.

The only exception was the large backyard; just passing the veranda, the garden had several patches of ground covered with flowers in a way that it created paths around them so anyone walking around the backyard would have no choice but to look at them.

In all honesty, the garden wasn't made or even thought of by the current Water Pillar, that responsibility lay on the black haired girl currently making a flower crown on the backyard.

Letting out a sigh, Sabito looked up from the paper he had been writing on and looked at the sky.

"Are you worried about Tanjiro?" Makomo's voice brought him out from his musings and made him look at her.

"There is no point in being worried; there is nothing else we can do for him." The peach haired man answered.

"Right." The girl said with a nod. "So what are you sighing about then?" She asked with a grin.

"…alright, part of me is worried." Sabito admitted. "What about you? Wait, you don't have to answer." He said before pointing at the flower crown in her hands. "You wouldn't make such a sloppy job if you were focused."

Makomo could only giggle as she looked at the flower crown in her hands.

"Making them helps calm me down, even if they're not up to my standards." She said simply as she placed the crown on her head. "So, what are you writing?"

"Something that Tanjiro said made me think." The Water Pillar answered, Makomo simply began to walk towards him, waiting for her friend to continue. "I told him about how things went during the Final Selection for me and how I ran around saving everyone that was participating… and how most of them are dead now."

The black haired girl sat on the veranda and placed a hand on his shoulder in silent support, knowing that this is a sore subject for the Pillar.

"In any case, I told him that Demon Slayers can't afford to protect the innocent that can't protect themselves and other Demon Slayers at the same time, he answered that if you can't do it alone then you just have to ask for help."

Makomo gave a small, sad smile.

"That's a nice sentiment but it's not that simple, if they're too weak then a strong enough demon could kill any amount of Demon Slayers regardless of numbers."

"I know and, sadly, he will realize that in time but it got me thinking; what if Demon Slayers were divided in squads?" Sabito asked. "You know as well as I do that when more than one Demon Slayer is sent to the same mission is usually because of that particular mission; most of the time everyone is sent in solo-missions."

"There is a reason for that, you know?" Makomo began. "It's because a good number of demons aren't strong enough to warrant sending more than one person after them."

"I'm aware but… actually, here." Instead of answering, he offered her the paper he was writing. "I'll send this to Oyakata-sama tomorrow so he can read it; can you tell me what you think?"

Makomo hummed and nodded 'yes' before taking the paper from him and begin to read.

.

"I have a few questions." She spoke after she finished reading.

"Yes?"

"First, why do you think this idea has merit?"

"A few reasons, actually, but if you're asking for the main one… then I'd say it's because, if successful, it should raise the survival chances of the Demon Slayers." Sabito answered seriously. "Especially for the new recruits, you know as well as I do that it's possible to pass the Final Selection simply due to luck."

"True." Makomo conceded. "But that also means that if someone that survived for that reason was sent to a squad they could be the proverbial weak link."

"Hmm, that's true." The Water Pillar muttered with a frown. "Then, how about this? For the new recruits, we'll send them on their first few missions along with a Demon Slayer of the middle ranks so they can assess them and, if necessary, help them survive."

"Why should we do that? Wouldn't that be detrimental for the people in the middle ranks?"

"…and this is why I asked for your opinion." The peach haired man thought out loud with a grin.

"Oh? Do tell." Makomo said, matching his grin.

"Despite how aloof you tend to appear, you're a lot better at thinking objectively than I am." He answered with a shrug.

"You're not that bad." The girl said back.

"Why, thank you; but I don't think you'll argue that you're better than me."

"You're right, I won't argue that." Makomo conceded as she moved a hand and patted his head. "But knowing your limitations is a sign of maturity."

"You say that, yet I can't help but feel you're treating me like a child." Sabito answered with a dry look yet he didn't make a move to make her stop. "Let's get back on topic… at the top of my head I can think of two reasons why sending a middle rank Demon Slayer to supervise the new recruits is a good idea." He raised one finger from his right hand. "First, it would serve to let the middle ranks that are used to fighting solo to begin thinking of how to fight with other people." He raised a second finger from the same hand. "Second, there is no way of telling how far the new recruits or lower ranks could go if given enough time; I almost died during the Final Selection and I ended up becoming a Pillar."

Makomo smiled and nodded her agreement.

"Fair points, it should be enough to convince anyone that disagrees, next…"

* * *

Back in the Final Selection testing grounds.

'It's the last night.' Kamado Tanjiro thought, already moving even before the sun finished hiding and his sword outside of its sheath.

While some would think that after defeating the Hand Demon the rest of the Final Selection would be easy, those people would have been wrong.

While certainly not as strong, fighting other demons for seven nights in a row took its toll on the red haired teen's body, not to mention that it rained during the fifth day, darkening the sky and effectively allowing demons to roam around during daytime, albeit not as recklessly as during the night.

While he rested as much as possible, he could only relax to a certain extent considering he was, quite literally, in the middle of hostile territory.

His clothes were covered in dirt, the wound on his head he got during the first night was covered in dry blood after it reopened during the fourth night and he hadn't had the time or energy to clean it again and his body was practically screaming for him to take a break, yet there was one thing that took precedence for him more than any of those facts.

'None of the demons would answer me…' He gritted his teeth at the fact that he wasn't able to find any clue as to how to turn his sister back into a human.

Literally every demon he encountered would attack him without a word and the few that talked only said things among the lines of 'I finally get to eat!' completely ignoring any words coming from the swordsman.

The only demon that held a conversation with him had been the Hand Demon but asking him was no longer an option.

'I'll have to ask other demons after I leave this place; I don't have any other choice.' Taking a deep breath, he stopped thinking about that for the time being and focused.

It may be the last night but he hasn't passed the Final Selection yet.

.

.

Luckily, there didn't seem to be many demons around this night, whether it's because the other participants killed them or they were aiming at some other prey was anyone's guess but Tanjiro wasn't complaining.

Even so, he didn't allow himself to be at ease, he constantly checked his surroundings to make sure no demon was trying to ambush him. He trusts his nose would pick up any scents and alert him with time to spare but he didn't want to take any chances at this point.

'How much longer?' The Kamado thought, stopping for a second and placing his hands on his knees to catch his breath. 'If my memory serves me right, I should be close by now… eh?' Just then, he picked up a scent and looked up. "Wisteria?" He thought out loud, looking at the flowers that surrounded the entire area and sighing in relief. "I made it."

Allowing himself to relax, he sheathed his sword and began to walk down the stairs to the clearing where every participant that passed should be waiting.

.

.

At the clearing that served as the entrance to the testing grounds there were only two people that arrived before Tanjiro.

The first was a girl with black hair tied into a side ponytail with a butterfly ornament, she had purple eyes and was wearing a pink kimono; her left hand was raised and a butterfly was resting on top of her fingers. Strangely, there didn't seem to be any dirt on her clothes and her small smile seemed too relaxed for someone that just survived seven days in that mountain.

The other was a blond boy wearing a yellow haori with a triangle pattern, unlike the girl his clothes and face were covered in dirt but there weren't any visible wounds on his body. Tanjiro worried about his mental health, though, as he saw him muttering something to himself non-stop.

Ignoring them for the moment, he saw a table placed near one of the rocks with medical supplies on top, approaching it he saw a note that said 'for anyone that needs them'.

Thanking whoever left that there, he began to treat the wound on his forehead, cleaning it and then covering his head with a bandage.

By the time Tanjiro finished tending to his wound and moving to stand near the middle of the clearing, the sun began to rise and only one other person walked down the stairs.

He was another boy, around Tanjiro and the blond boy's height with inward-slanting eyes giving him an angered appearance, his black hair was styled into a buzz cut with a clump of messy hair left on the top of his head and a large jagged scar running over his right cheekbone from his ear to over his nose. He is wearing a purple, sleeveless yukata over a plain black shirt with long sleeves and white pants.

Much like the other two males, his clothes and face were covered in dirt but like the blond, there weren't any visible wounds on his body.

'Only four of us?' Tanjiro wondered, looking around in case there was someone else but to no avail. 'But there were at least twenty.' His mind went towards the boy he saved from the Hand Demon but it seems he had died at the hands of a different demon since he wasn't there. 'I couldn't save him.'

"I'm gonna die. I'm a goner." His thoughts were interrupted by the blond boy suddenly beginning to mutter to himself. "Even if I survive now, I'm gonna die in the end anyway."

"Welcome back." Two voices spoke in perfect unison as the boy and girl that explained the Final Selection a week ago walked to stand in front of the small shrine; a table was set up with a light purple blanket covering something on top of it.

"Congratulations."

"We're pleased to see that you're safe." The girl and the boy spoke in turn.

"So? What am I supposed to do now?" The boy with the scar asked rudely. "Where's my sword?"

"First, we shall issue you all uniforms." The white haired girl began. "We will take your measurements, after which your ranks will be engraved."

"There are ten ranks in all…" The black haired boy continued.

"Kinoe" The girl said first.

"Kinoto."

"Hinoe."

"Hinoto."

"Tsuchinoe."

"Tsuchinoto."

"Kanoe."

"Kanoto."

"Mizunoe."

"And Mizunoto." The boy finished.

"Currently, you are at the lowest rank, Mizunoto." The girl informed them.

"And our swords?" The boy with the purple yukata asked again.

"Today, we will let you choose the ore for your swords; however, the swords will take ten to fifteen days to complete."

"Are you kidding me?" The black haired boy complained.

"But first…" The white haired girl clapped her hands twice and suddenly everyone heard the sound of wings fluttering.

A moment later four birds descended from the sky, three were crows one landing on top of Tanjiro, the girl and the black haired boy's arm each while the blond boy got a sparrow, for some reason.

"We will now assign each of you your own Kasugai Crow." The girl said.

"Kasugai Crow?" Tanjiro repeated, getting over the initial surprise and looking at the bird perched on his arm.

The girl simply stared at the bird maintaining her smile while the boy with the scar seemed to glare at his and the blond looked dubiously at his own bird

"These Kasugai Crows can be used primarily for communication."

"Did you say 'crow'?" The boy with the yellow haori asked, looking at his bird. "Isn't this a sparrow, though?"

"Don't give me that crap!" The black haired boy yelled, scaring the blond and stopping any sort of answer they were going to give him.

He forced the bird off his arm and walked forwards while glaring at the two siblings.

"Who the hell cares about some stupid crows?" Without any warning, he hit the white haired girl on top of her head and grabbed her from her hair with his right hand so she was looking at him in the eye.

The girl simply stared at him, not making any sound despite just being hit.

"I want a sword, you hear? Gimme one right now!" He ordered, still holding onto her hair. "The Demon Slayers' sword! The color changing sword!" Before he could go on, he felt someone grab his arm.

"Take your hand off her!" Tanjiro said. "Or else I'll break your arm!"

The boy with the buzz cut glared at him with a 'are you serious?' expression while the blond seemed to debate whether he should do something and the black haired girl simply looked, her smile not wavering in the slightest.

"Who the hell are you?" The boy with the purple yukata sneered. "Let's see you try it!" He challenged.

The Kamado didn't answer, he simply took a breath and began to apply more force to his grip.

The black haired boy's expression quickly morphed into a pained one and he let out a grunt as the red haired swordsman did good on his threat, making him let go and take a few steps back while tending to his wounded limb, his expression a mix of pain and anger as he glared at him.

Tanjiro stood his ground, receiving the angry gaze and looking back with a stern expression.

"Are you finished chatting?" The black haired boy asked as if the two had just been talking about the weather.

When no one gave a response or argued, he removed the cloth on top of the table, revealing several pieces of ore.

"Now then, please select an ore." He said after walking to stand at the side of the table. "The steel for the sword that will annihilate demons and protect you will be of your own choosing."

The four walked up to the table and stared at the pieces of ore.

'They're asking us to choose, but how are we supposed to pick one out?' Tanjiro thought. 'I've never seen an ore before and I can't tell the difference anyway.'

"I have absolutely no clue." The scarred boy thought out loud, looking from one ore to the other, trying to decide.

'Should I just pick one at random?' The Kamado wondered when his nose picked up on something.

Out of all the ores on that table, one had a scent that he found more pleasant than the rest; he is not completely sure if this means its better but his sense of smell hasn't led him wrong yet.

With a mental nod, he approached the table and picked up the ore that 'called out' to him.

* * *

In an undisclosed location.

A man with black shoulder length hair, wearing a black kimono with a long white kimono jacket, the jacket having a pink and purple mist like pattern that starts around the waist sat calmly on the outside of a mansion, looking at the garden as a crow with a purple cord around his neck rested calmly on his arm.

"I see." The man said, his voice calm as he used a finger to caress the head of the crow. "As many as five of them managed to survive, huh? Excellent." A small smile appeared on his face. "The number of my children has increased again. I wonder what kind of swordsmen they'll become."

As the man thought out loud, a second crow descended from the sky and landed in front of him.

"You are Sabito's crow, is something the matter?" The man asked.

The bird moved forward a bit and showed his leg where two letters were tied.

"Let's see." He gently untied the first one and opened it- "Gghh-" Suddenly he grabbed his head with one hand, his calm expression replaced by a pained one.

He stood in that position for a few moments until the pain subsided.

"Ah… I guess light can no longer reach my eyes." He said calmly. "Amane, are you there?" The man called out.

Despite not truly raising his voice, a few moments later a door slid open and a woman walked in.

She has pale skin with dark eyes looking to be about her mid-twenties and with white hair tied in a ponytail and swept to the right with two strands let loose at the front and is wearing a light kimono patterned with flowers and a dark butterfly patterned kimono jacket.

"Did you call me, Kagaya-sama?" She asked in monotone.

"Sorry for bothering you, could you read this letter for me?" Kagaya said with a small smile.

The woman blinked once, a bit confused at the odd request but walked forward anyway.

It was when she was in front of him that she noticed it, her eyes widening slightly at the sight in front of her.

The man's face had a mostly pale complexion except for one thing, a large purple colored mark that currently spread to just above his nose, covering both his eyes and making it look as if his skin was rotting.

"Kagaya-sama, your eyes…" Amane trailed off.

"Yes, it seems that this curse has finally reached my other eye, I can no longer see." The man said with a calm demeanor that most wouldn't have at losing their sight. "That's why I asked if you could read this letter for me."

"…of course." She answered after a small pause and took the offered letter from his hands. "'Oyakata-sama, I hope this letter finds you in good health.'" The white haired woman couldn't help but narrow her eyes at the timing but continued after a second. "'I write this letter in order to inform you of an idea that I believe will benefit the Demon Slayer corps, on the second letter there is a detailed explanation of said idea as well as the reasons for it and why I believe it is beneficial. I trust you will judge its worth accordingly. Sabito, the Water Pillar'. That's all." She finished.

"I see, thank you." Kagaya said with a smile. "Could you read the second letter? I'm curious as to what this idea is."

The white haired woman took a deep breath, carefully keeping her expression neutral before moving to grab the second letter.

"Amane." The man called out before she grabbed it and raised his right hand, the woman took it with both of hers. "We both knew that this would happen eventually."

"I know, I just can't accept it with the same ease you can." She answered with a small, sad smile. "I shouldn't be surprised that I can't fool you and pretend everything is fine even if you can't see me."

Kagaya raised his other hand and closed the distance between them before hugging her.

No tears were spilled or words exchanged, they simply stayed in that position.

* * *

On the road towards Mt. Sagiri.

Kamado Tanjiro was tired, no, he was exhausted.

He had been more or less fine during the Final Selection but now that it was over, the accumulated fatigue began to takes its toll.

Despite this, he hadn't stopped moving after leaving the grounds for the Final Selection, using a tree branch as a makeshift cane to lean against and carrying a white bag with his uniform on it, he continued to move towards his home.

The sun was beginning to set and under normal circumstances, he would get there before nightfall. He was close to it by now, he recognized the path leading to Urokodaki's house, but, in his current state, it felt like he was on the other side of the country.

Before he realized, he fell to the ground.

'Even my uniform is heavy.' He thought, staying on the ground for a few moments. 'I wanna get home as soon as possible, but my whole body hurts.'

Taking another second to rest, he got back up and started moving again.

.

.

Just like he thought, the sun had set long ago by the time he could see his master's house.

"I made it." He thought out loud in relief. 'Just a bit further.'

Before he could even begin to move, the door of the house was kicked open, taking it off its hinges and making it fall to the ground.

The Kamado's eyes widened and his jaw dropped at the sight.

Calmly walking out of the house, wearing her pink kimono with a black jacket was his sister.

"Hey! Nezuko!" He called out, letting go of his makeshift cane in his surprise. "You… So, you're awake?"

The younger Kamado didn't answer and simply began to run in his direction.

Tanjiro did the same but couldn't take five steps before his body reminded him that he wasn't in any condition to do so and he fell to the ground.

Grunting, he tried to get up but only made it to a kneeling position before Nezuko finished closing the distance and hugged him.

The swordsman quickly hugged her back and began to cry in relief.

"Why…why'd you fall asleep all of a sudden?" He asked between sobs, yet there was no reproach in his tone, just an overwhelming relief. "Never waking up once." More tears began to spill but he didn't bother to wipe them away and continued to hug her. "I was worried you were going to die, you know?!"

Urokodaki saw the scene and dropped the logs he had just got to approach the two siblings and he kneeled down to hug them.

"You came back to us alive." He said simply, a few tears of relief falling from his eyes as well.

Those words only made Tanjiro's tears renew as he returned the hug.

.

.

After finally calming down, Urokodaki helped Tanjiro to the bath so he could wash himself, left a change of clothes for him and went to prepare dinner and the first aid kit. Once he came back, the masked man changed the bandage around his head and the two began to eat. Nezuko had gone back to her room and was currently sleeping peacefully in the futon.

"Urokodaki-san, I encountered the demon you told me about during the Final Selection." Tanjiro said after he finished eating. "I defeated him."

If the older man wasn't wearing a mask, the Kamado would have seen the relief in his expression at hearing this.

"I see…" Sakonji let out a sigh and his shoulders sagged for a moment. "At last." Taking a moment to process this, he looked back at his student. "You did a great job coming back."

"Thanks."

"Since you did, I will tell you some more about demons, there wasn't any point before since you wouldn't find any demon like that in the Final Selection." The Kamado nodded and payed attention. "There are several kinds of demons, aside from those that morph their bodies, like the one in the Final Selection, there are those who use a special spell called the 'Blood Demon Art', this demons possess supernatural abilities." Urokodaki explained. "There is no way of knowing what type of ability these demons possess until you fight them and you will have to fight those demons, as well, from now on; it will be far more difficult than anything you've known until now." The man with the tengu mask let a smile cross his face. "Even so, Tanjiro, I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Yes." The swordsman answered before looking at the room his sister was resting for a moment. "Um… I think Nezuko's not like the other demons, do you think it could be because of that Whatchamacallit Art?"

"No, I don't think so." He said, shaking his head. "I wouldn't call that an example of the Blood Demon Art; truthfully, there is no way of knowing since your sister is a special case, I would even say that she may be the only one of her kind." The older man took a moment to think. "I'm just guessing here, but it could be that Nezuko's recovering her strength by sleeping instead of consuming human flesh."

"I… see…" The Kamado shook his head and stifled a yawn.

"We can talk more some other time, for now you should go to sleep."

Tanjiro nodded, thanked him and did as told.

* * *

Four days later, Demon Slayer corps headquarters.

Sabito stood calmly among the other eight pillars, plus Giyu, in the garden that was usually used for meetings as he waited for Oyakata-sama to appear.

The garden was a large area with several small white rocks surrounding the main house in a square pattern, after the rocks the rest of the area was covered by trimmed grass and several trees were planted around.

All in all, the garden had a calming effect on almost anyone that entered it.

Silently, the Water Pillar looked around him towards the other pillars.

Standing with his arms crossed and smiling was the Flame Pillar, Rengoku Kyojuro; he is a man with yellow hair with red streaks and is wearing the standard Demon Slayer uniform consisting of a dark brown jacket with a white belt around his waist and baggy pants tucked into red bands of cloth around his calves, additionally he had a white yellow gradient pattern haori with red flame-like ridges at the end; he also had a katana sheathed at his waist with a flame like guard on the hilt.

Standing next to him and towering over most of the others present was Uzui Tengen, the Sound Pillar; he is also wearing the standard Demon Slayer uniform except that his jacket didn't have any sleeves and he had a head wrap featuring a plate covered with jewels of various sizes covering his head as well as a painting around his left eye consisting of five red large circles and five red small circles with his eye at the center and two swords held on his back.

Next was the only person taller than the Sound Pillar and truly towering over everyone else in the room.

Himejima Gyomei, the Rock Pillar, is a muscular man with black hair and a scar running horizontally along his forehead and, because of his blindness, his eyes lack any irises. He is wearing the standard Demon Slayer uniform along with a yellow-green haori on top, a large beaded necklace around his neck and his hands were together in prayer while holding prayer beads.

In contrast to the large man, the next was a boy no older than fourteen and the second shortest person in the garden.

Tokito Muichiro, the Mist Pillar, was looking at the sky with a somewhat vacant expression, his empty-looking mint-green eyes fixed on something up there. He is wearing the Demon Slayer uniform, although tinted slightly turquoise with longer, looser sleeves reminiscent of a kimono and no bands of cloth around his calves giving the uniform a more loose appearance by comparison. He has long, straight and black colored hair that fades to a pale turquoise the closer it gets to his waist with two clumps protruding slightly from each side of his head, a set of marginally shorter hair left down to frame his forehead and some unruly bangs over his forehead. Like Rengoku, he has his sword sheathed on his waist.

Resting on the branch of one of the several trees along the garden was the Snake Pillar, Iguro Obanai. A young man of short stature, just slightly taller than Tokito, with a light complexion and black hair, the latter fashioned to be choppy and layered with two strands of hair between his eyes. He also wears bandages around his mouth and has different colored eyes, his right one being yellow and his left one being turquoise; if it wasn't for the fact that he has a living snake constantly wrapped around his neck, his eyes would probably be his most defining feature. Aside from the bandages around his mouth, he wears the standard Demon Slayer uniform with black and white striped haori.

Unlike the previous two males, the next one was standing with his arms to his side and looking towards the mansion where the Demon Slayers' leader would show up from.

With his spiky white hair, large eyes and the multitude of scars around his face and body, most people would try to stay away from him. The seemingly permanent angry expression on the Wind Pillar, Shinazugawa Sanemi, didn't help things.

Like most of the others, he is wearing the standard uniform, except that his jacket is unbuttoned, revealing a few scars along his chest and he is wearing a white kimono jacket on top of it and his sword at his waist.

Next was one of the only two females that held the title of Pillar.

With a small blush across her face and with a hand covering her mouth giving her a somewhat shy appearance the Love Pillar, Mitsuri Kanroji, is a young woman with fair skin and round, light green eyes with a small mole beneath each of them. She has long, pale pink hair that fades into a neon green color at the halfway point and wears it in three thick braids, two falling in front of her and one behind her, with five shorter clumps hanging over her face as bangs.

She is probably the one that has modified her uniform the most, aside from Uzui. She wears a short skirt instead of the usual pants and her jacket is unbuttoned around the breast area to accommodate her chest size; on top, she wears a plain white haori. Aside from that, she wears a pair of navy blue thigh-high socks with a pair of striped lime green socks over them.

The other one was Kocho Shinobu, wearing the usual Demon Slayer uniform with her butterfly patterned haori and her hair tied with her butterfly ornament.

"Does anyone know why we were summoned?" Rengoku asked, looking around at the others.

"It is unusual for us to meet here out of the scheduled meetings." Mitsuri mentioned.

"I sent something via crow a few days ago, it may have something to do with that." Sabito chimed in, earning the others' attention.

"What did you send?" Iguro asked from his perch, opening one of his eyes to look at him.

"I'd rather wait until Oyakata-sama gets here to explain, it will save us some time." The Water Pillar answered.

"Do you know anything, Tomioka-san?" Shinobu asked the Water Tsuguko with her ever-present smile.

"No." Came Giyu's blunt response.

"Oyakata-sama has arrived." Two voices said in unison. They were two girls of short stature, big black eyes and shoulder-length white hair with a blunt fringe. They were clearly twins, with the only difference between them being the color of their kimonos, one wearing a dark blue colored one and the other a purple and green one, both with flower patterns, and a ribbon placed on mirroring sides of their heads; the one with the blue kimono wearing hers on the left side and it being yellow while her sister wore hers on the right and it was red.

At once, every Pillar formed a line, took a knee and bowed, while Giyu did the same a step behind and to the left of Sabito.

"So good of you to come, my beloved children." Oyakata-sama spoke as he walked forward to stand under the sun. "My apologies for calling you all so abruptly."

"No, we do not m-" Sabito's words died on his throat when he looked up and saw him.

Everyone else looked up, surprised at the man's sudden stop and then they saw it.

"Oyakata-sama… your eyes…" Kanroji trailed off, covering her mouth with one hand.

"Yes, I'm afraid I can no longer see." Kagaya said calmly.

The reaction at his words was the same for everyone; they clenched their teeth and/or hands in frustration while looking down, the only exception was Himejima who began crying and chanted a prayer.

"Do not concern yourselves; I had already made peace with this." The black haired man assured them.

Taking a deep breath, they all forced themselves to relax; not wanting to make their leader worry about them when he was the one that just lost one of his senses.

"Our apologies for the sudden outburst." Shinazugawa said.

"It's alright, I appreciate the sentiment." Oyakata-sama answered with a smile. "I did not call you here because of this, however." He turned towards the Water Pillar. "Sabito, I have reviewed the letter you sent, I believe there is value to the idea and I would like to put it into practice; I just wanted to ask for your opinions on the matter before coming to a final decision."

"What's the idea?" Rengoku asked.

"Would you like to explain?" Kagaya asked the peach haired man.

"Yes." Sabito answered with a nod. "In short, I proposed that the Demon Slayer corps should include squads on their rosters, not just sending individual people against demons or sending more than one person as just a one-time thing. I believe that with our current numbers we can afford to do this and that it would raise the survival rate of our members."

"Why should we do that? We have operated in the same way for centuries." Uzui said.

"Exactly, we have fought the same way for centuries and I don't see us getting any closer to ending this battle." The Water Pillar responded making the taller man let out a hum but he didn't argue.

"But what about the new recruits or low-ranking members? If they get in the way of their squad members then they will be a detriment." Rengoku chimed in.

"We will send them on a few missions with a middle-ranked member in order to assess them and to let the Demon Slayers that are not used to fighting alone learn how to fight with other people."

"I don't agree, we shouldn't waste our time with weaklings." Iguro argued, sending a side-glance to his fellow pillar.

"How do you know they will stay as such?" Sabito answered calmly, also looking at him from the corner of his eyes. "It's not as if we were all strong to begin with, I almost died during the Final Selection yet I ended up becoming a Pillar."

"Are you saying that anyone can become a pillar?" Shinobu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm saying that, if they survive their battles, Demon Slayers can only get stronger."

"Then they should do it the same way we did." The Wind Pillar said.

"Not everyone has the advantage of possessing a rare blood type, Shinazugawa." Sabito responded.

"Huh? What did you say?" The white haired man asked, turning his head to glare at him. "Are you implying that I became a Pillar because of my blood?"

"Don't put words in my mouth." The peach haired man answered, also turning his head towards him. "I have never questioned your skill but can you honestly say that you could have survived some of your earlier battles if it wasn't for your blood? Especially the ones before you learned about the Demon Slayer corps?"

Although he growled, Shinazugawa didn't say anything in response.

"Now, now, let's not get off topic." Kagaya chimed in calmly; the two stopped the staring contest and bowed their heads once more. "Are there any further questions?"

"Will a squad be assigned to the Pillars?" Himejima asked.

"At this point in time, I would say no." Sabito answered the taller man. "Most demons aren't strong enough to warrant sending a Pillar after them, sending a squad with a Pillar at the lead could weaken an area. I did suggest to leave the option open in case anything changes or if anyone would like to take a squad under their wing."

The Rock Pillar nodded, satisfied by the answer.

"Anything else?" No one raised their voice. "In that case, I'd like to hear your opinions on the matter."

"I can see the merits, I support this plan!" Rengoku declared first while nodding enthusiastically.

"I also give this my flamboyant support; at the very least I can't see any obvious demerits." Uzui followed.

"Hmm… I can't say I have anything to say against it." Shinobu said next with her usual smile.

"I don't mind either way." Tokito said with a bored expression.

"I will agree with what Oyakata-sama decides." Mitsuri gave her answer while smiling widely.

"I can't say I like this idea but I don't have a reason to oppose it either." Shinazugawa responded with a neutral expression. "I don't believe it will make a difference, though."

"I think the same as Shinazugawa, if you decide to go through with it, I won't oppose this." Iguro said next with a similar expression.

"While I am unsure as to how effective it will be, I do believe there is merit in trying, I give this idea my support." Himejima said before chanting another prayer.

Sabito stayed quiet, his stance in the matter obvious.

"And you, Giyu?" Oyakata-sama asked the only present Tsuguko.

"I will go along with what you all decide." The black haired man answered.

Sabito had to resist the urge to sigh at the response but didn't say anything.

"Then it's decided, I will begin preparations for how the squads will be arranged as well as to whom to send to supervise the new recruits." The leader of the Demon Slayers said. "Is there any subject you would like to bring up?"

Once again, everyone stayed silent.

"Then this meeting is adjourned; thank you again for coming."

* * *

**You know something funny?**

**So far, every chapter I wrote for this story ended up short of reaching a certain part I had planned for it. For example: in chapter three, the original idea was to have the conversation between Tanjiro, Urokodaki, Sabito and Makomo at the cabin in that chapter but I felt it would get too long and I liked that other part to stop so I left it for the next one.**

**I'm not complaining, though, it means I already have at least a part of the next chapter more or less ready.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**I enjoy reading your reviews so don't be shy about leaving one!**

**Until next time.**


	6. The test

**The test**

**Guest review answer corner.**

**.**

**Lilypu: I have no intention of stopping any time soon so that shouldn't be a problem. For your questions, I don't like giving spoilers for my stories… I do, however, like to promote my stories! So I invite you to read my other two Kimetsu no Yaiba fanfics, a one-shot and a two-shot, and they should answer your question (partially, at least).**

**Thanks for the review, I hope you continue to enjoy!**

**Until next time.**

**.**

**Thanks for the support everyone!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba.**

**On with the chapter!**

* * *

Sabito's manor, a week after the Final Selection ended.

A Kasugai Crow descended from the sky and landed in front of Makomo as she rested at the porch looking at the backyard while drinking tea.

"Hello there." She greeted, using her hand to gently pet the bird. "Am I allowed to read that letter tied to your feet?"

The crow made a small jump to get closer and offered its leg where a letter was attached.

"Thank you." The black haired girl said before taking the letter. 'Let's see.' She opened it and read its contents.

.

'…I see.' Her smile wavered slightly and her eyes narrowed the slightest bit after reading it. 'I'll have to let Sabito know when he comes back from his mission.'

Just as she was thinking that, a door opened behind her.

"Oh, hi Giyu." She greeted with a smile. "Everything alright?"

"I'm going on a mission, I just came to let you know." He answered, his expression neutral.

"Blunt as always." Makomo commented jokingly. "Do you know how long it will take?"

"At least two days to make it there; I don't know how long until I can track the demon."

"I see… I guess you won't be able to make it then." The black haired girl thought out loud.

Giyu raised an eyebrow, silently asking what she meant.

"Urokodaki-san just sent a letter, Tanjiro's sister woke up." She informed.

"…I see."

"I'll tell Sabito when he gets back, we'll probably go there immediately after. I was going to invite you but if you have a mission…" She trailed off.

"I don't mind." The Tsuguko said before turning around. "…please let me know what happens."

"Of course!" Makomo answered. "Have a safe trip."

Nodding Giyu closed the door and, a few moments later, left the house.

"…well, I guess I'll make a flower crown." She said to herself before drinking the rest of her tea, then stepping down to the garden.

.

A few hours later.

Sabito was in a good mood, an unusual thing after a mission.

In most cases, whenever the Demon Slayers hear about a demon is because said demon has already taken a few victims and so, someone is sent to dispose of the demon. His most recent mission was different.

The demon he was sent to hunt kept his victims alive, it clearly had a liking for making humans suffer as they were kept chained up and, according to said victims, it would take a bite out of them every now and then only to hear them scream.

Luckily, the Water Pillar had been able to track it down, kill it and save the prisoners before any fatalities, at least in the town the prisoners were taken from. There would be a few scars, both physically and mentally, but they should heal with time.

All in all, it was a good day.

"I'm back!" Sabito called out as he entered his house.

Footsteps were heard and, a moment later, Makomo leaned her head from around the corner.

"Welcome home." Makomo answered with a smile. "How did your mission go?"

"Good, all things considered." The Water Pillar said. "No one died, at least from the town I was sent to, so I can't complain." He took off his footwear before jumping up the small step. "Anything happened while I was gone?"

"Giyu was sent on a mission, he left a few hours ago." The black haired girl said. "Also…" She took out the letter from the crow. "This is from Urokodaki-san, Tanjiro's sister is awake."

The small content smile that Sabito had on his face was wiped off the moment he heard her.

"I see." The peach haired man said, taking a deep breath. "When did she wake up?"

"A week ago, right after Tanjiro came back from the Final Selection."

"Why did Urokodaki-san wait so long to tell us?"

"He wanted to give Tanjiro some time." Makomo answered with a small smile.

Sabito nodded in understanding.

"I guess it's time, then." With that, he turned around and put his footwear back on.

Makomo soon followed his example and the two left the house and began the trip towards Mt. Sagiri.

* * *

In .

After coming back from the Final Selection and resting for two days, Tanjiro fell into a routine.

First, he would have breakfast with Urokodaki-san, then help around the house until lunch, which the two would also have together; in the afternoon, he trained in order to keep in shape and to improve his swordsmanship further, it wasn't as hellish as when he first began training with Urokodaki-san or the six months when Sabito and Makomo helped him but he didn't slack off.

He sometimes wondered if he didn't consider it as hellish because he wasn't trying as desperately or because he got used to it.

Once the sun set, he would go back to the house where he would find Nezuko, usually walking around outside. The younger Kamado would sometimes sleep through the entire night but she hasn't slept for two days straight since Tanjiro came back; he thinks that it's probably so he won't worry about her not waking up like the last two years.

After greeting her he'd take a shower and then tell her everything that happened while she was asleep; they had a lot of catching up to do. Eventually, Urokodaki would call them to eat; Nezuko couldn't eat the food but she settled for either sitting beside her brother or laying down on the floor while kicking her feet in the air. Tanjiro wasn't sure but he could have sworn he heard a snort from his master the first time the latter happened.

Today was no different; he had trained, greeted Nezuko when he came back and taken a shower.

He was talking with her when his nose picked up a familiar scent.

"Oh, Sabito and Makomo came to visit." The Kamado thought out loud, looking at the road that leads to the house before turning back to his sister. "They are the ones I told you helped me with my training… and that would test you."

Nezuko tilted her head to the side while looking worriedly at her brother.

"Don't worry; I'm sure it will be fine." The swordsman said trying to reassure her.

And himself.

.

While this was happening, Urokodaki looked out from his house, also having picked up on his two pupils' scent.

'I've done all I can… now I can only hope.' The old man thought, steeling himself for what it's to come.

.

Not so far from Urokodaki's home.

"We're almost there." Makomo mentioned, for the first time not happy about going to her master's home.

"Yeah." Sabito answered simply, moving his fox mask from his waist to the right side of his head.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes."

"Isn't there another way?"

"None that I can think of."

"…are you trying to imitate Giyu?" She asked with a small grin to lighten the mood.

"…pff." Sabito snorted before letting out a short chuckle. "I don't think I could if I tried."

"You don't know that." The black haired said back, still grinning.

The smile in Sabito's face disappeared before he answered.

"…I appreciate what you're trying to do Makomo but please, let's leave the jokes for now."

The black haired girl's smile vanished and she nodded somberly.

"You know I could do it for you, you know?"

"And make you carry that burden? No, thank you."

"So it's okay if you carry it?" Makomo shot back with narrowed eyes.

"Last I checked, I was the pillar." Sabito answered without humor, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.

"If that's your reason, then I'll fight you right here for your title." The black haired girl declared.

"Please don't." He said simply with a pleading smile.

"…you don't want to do this."

"Possibly take away a good person's last remaining family? Of course not." The peach haired man answered with a heavy sigh.

"Yet you're going through with it."

"Whatever Giyu saw was enough to convince him that she was worth risking his life for." Sabito began. "I trust his judgement as much as yours but I haven't seen anything like that yet. I won't risk my life, his life and your life on this without seeing it with my own eyes."

"I understand… but I will help you."

"What?"

"You need someone to keep Tanjiro still, do you really think that he won't try to protect her?"

"I won't ask that of you."

"I know, which is why I'm the one saying I'll do it." She gave him a weak smile. "I'll at least help you with the burden."

"…thank you."

"Just… answer me this." Makomo said, making her friend turn towards her. "If she doesn't pass your test and you kill her… what will you do about Tanjiro?"

"…I don't know." The Water Pillar said and looked towards the night sky with a sad look. "That's why I've been praying that she passes since you told me she woke up."

Without a word, Makomo moved in front of Sabito and hugged him, moving her head to the side so her mask wouldn't bother him.

"Whatever happens, it won't change anything, not between us at least." She assured him while burying her head in his chest.

"Thank you." Sabito said with a small smile as he returned the gesture.

* * *

Around twenty minutes after Tanjiro picked up Sabito and Makomo's scents, the two appeared above the small slope overlooking Urokodaki's house, the moonlight falling on them and letting the red haired teen see them clearly.

"There they are." Tanjiro said, looking towards them.

Nezuko was standing beside him and looking in the same direction.

The older Kamado gulped when he saw Sabito already had his mask on his head, add to that the dead serious expressions in both their faces and he didn't need his sense of smell to tell that something was wrong.

"H-" Whatever he was going to say was cut off when Sabito suddenly disappeared from sight and reappeared right in front of Nezuko before kicking her away. "Nezu-" He was once again cut off when Makomo moved behind him, used her legs to sweep his and pinned him to the ground, face down.

"Don't move." The black haired girl ordered in a completely emotionless tone that he had never heard from her.

Meanwhile, Sabito unsheathed his sword and began to slash against the younger Kamado forcing her to move around and dodge. She tried to jump towards a tree to gain some distance but the swordsman easily caught up to her and aimed for her neck, making her kick said tree to alter her course and avoid the weapon.

He didn't let up, every time Nezuko seemed to have taken enough distance to have a moment of reprieve Sabito would suddenly appear right beside her, his stony expression not looking the slightest bit remorseful for what he was doing.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro called out before attempting to use Total Concentration breathing to overpower Makomo.

'Trying' being the operative word.

The moment she noticed what he was doing, Makomo hit him on his back, forcing the air out of his lungs.

"Don't try that." She said simply.

But he didn't listen, Tanjiro tried again only to be hit in the same spot once more, feeling powerless as he watched the peach haired man try to kill his sister.

That doesn't mean he stopped trying, the moment he finished his coughing fit he was taking another deep breath only for Makomo to hit him again.

This process repeated itself several times, the only other sounds interrupting the usually quiet night being that of Sabito and Nezuko moving around and the former's sword cutting through air.

Tanjiro hoped that it wouldn't change to the sound of flesh being cut as he once again attempted to use Total Concentration breathing.

Makomo answered to this by once again hitting him but, in an attempt to make him stop once and for all, she used too much strength making the red haired teen let out a pained yell.

The sound gained the attention of the younger Kamado as she ignored the man with the tri-color haori and lunged in their direction, ready to tackle the black haired girl.

Sabito moved even faster and stood between them, his sword poised for an upwards slash, that he performed the moment Nezuko was in range, forcing the demon to stop and jump back, doing a somersault backwards due to the momentum before landing on her feet.

Nezuko's eyes focused on her brother and she let out a growl, muffled by the bamboo muzzle around her mouth but her intent was clear; 'leave my brother alone' is what she seemed to be saying.

Wordlessly, Sabito used his sword to make a cut in the back of his hand, letting some blood fall to the ground.

The girl with the pink kimono looked at him for a moment before her eyes went back to her brother.

"…don't move." Sabito said, speaking for the first time since he got there. "I am a Demon Slayer and you're a demon, it's my job to kill you." Nezuko didn't give any response to his words, whether it was because she was ignoring him or she couldn't understand him, Sabito couldn't know. "But your brother is human, if you don't resist anymore then we'll let him go."

"What?! Don't-gah!" Makomo hit Tanjiro once again, cutting him off mid-sentence and earning another growl from Nezuko.

"If you can understand what I said, then stop moving right now."

Nezuko shifted her gaze towards the man with the fox mask, her glare changing to a somewhat curious stare as her pink eyes seemed to analyze him.

'This person… human… I won't hurt him… but Onii-chan… this person… said he won't hurt him anymore… if I stay still…'

In truth, she could still understand human speech; it's only that she couldn't process the words and their meaning with the same ease as when she was a human.

She can hear the words and she knows their meaning but to her, it feels as if someone is trying to explain a very difficult problem about a subject she has little knowledge of. She _can _understand if given enough time, though, and even before she turned into a demon Nezuko was good at telling a person's emotional state just by watching them or talking for a while.

So she knows that what Sabito was saying was true, he won't attack Tanjiro as long as she stays still.

'This person… not lying.'

As Nezuko decided, she did as told and stayed still.

"I'll keep my end of the bargain." The Water Pillar said as he prepared his sword.

"Wai-" Yet again, Makomo stopped Tanjiro from speaking.

Nezuko looked at her brother and her eyes showed the gentle smile that her muzzle hid before closing them and slightly raising her chin, as if offering her neck.

Without any more words, Sabito dashed forward his sword poised to strike and ready to sever the pink eyed demon's head.

"Stop!" Tanjiro cried out, attempting to overpower Makomo again, even knowing that if he managed to get up he wouldn't make it in time to stop Sabito's blade.

In the blink of an eye, Sabito appeared behind Nezuko, his sword sheathed.

"…I'm glad." He said simply before raising his eyes to the sky and letting out a heavy sigh as Nezuko opened her eyes, noticing that her head was still attached to her torso.

"Sorry about this, Tanjiro." Makomo spoke as she got off of him and helped him up. "We needed to be sure."

"…this was a test." The Kamado said in realization after getting back on his feet.

The girl with the flower haori nodded before taking a step back when Nezuko moved between the two and hugged her brother.

"We won't ask you to forgive us… but we are sorry." Sabito said as he walked towards them, his mask already moved from his head to his waist.

"…I'm going to head-butt you." Tanjiro declared, narrowing his eyes towards Sabito.

"Pardon?"

"I have to head-butt you for hitting Nezuko." He said as he let go of Nezuko.

"…alright." The peach haired man answered, moving his palms upwards in an 'I won't resist' gesture.

Without any more words, Tanjiro closed the distance, took a deep breath and grabbed Sabito from his haori before head-butting him as hard as he could.

"I forgive you." He said after taking a step back.

"…"

"Sabito?" Makomo called out when he didn't respond.

Almost as if he was a tree that was just cut, Sabito fell backwards, hitting the ground with a thud.

"Sabito!" Makomo said worriedly as she checked on him.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he is fine." Urokodaki said, walking towards his pupils. "It's just that Tanjiro's head is unnaturally hard."

"True." The aforementioned said with crossed arms and a nod.

Nezuko imitated the gesture with a mumble.

"…are you saying that you knocked Sabito unconscious… with a head-butt?" She asked with an incredulous expression.

* * *

An hour later.

"…nghh." Sabito groaned as he began to wake up and slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the familiar roof of Urokodaki's home and noticed that the place was lit by the bonfire inside the house.

Then he noticed his head was resting on something soft and a moment later he saw the face of one of his best friends looking down at him worriedly.

"Are you alright?" Makomo asked.

"…did Tanjiro knock me out with a head-butt?" The Water Pillar asked, his incredulous expression almost mirroring the one Makomo had before.

"He did." She confirmed with a nod.

The peach haired man turned his head to the side and saw Tanjiro sitting near the bonfire where a hotpot was being cooked by his master, while Nezuko was sitting beside her brother.

"You should have head-butted that boulder until it broke into pieces; it would have been faster than learning how to cut it." He said, completely serious.

The red haired teen blinked once before letting out a chuckle.

Makomo also let out a giggle and Urokodaki snorted in amusement.

"Did you say you forgive me? I think I heard it but I was kind of losing consciousness so I'm not sure."

"You apologized for hitting Nezuko and I head-butted you as penance, you've made amends." Tanjiro assured him before frowning. "I'm still mad that you just attacked like that without any warning but I'll move past it eventually."

"There would have been no point in telling you beforehand, I needed to make sure your sister thought it was real and see her reaction." Sabito explained.

"That doesn't mean he liked it, though; he told me he was praying that she passes since he learned she woke up." Makomo added with a serene smile.

"Makomo!"

"Yes, Sabito?" The black haired girl asked innocently.

"…forget it." He turned his head the other way so he was looking at one of the walls.

"So… what happens now?" The older Kamado asked.

"She passed, so we won't attack her anymore." The aqua eyed girl answered before frowning. "That doesn't mean that other Demon Slayers won't, though."

"A demon that doesn't attack humans is not something that other hunters will simply accept, if any of the others find out they will likely attack first and ask questions later." Sabito said next, moving to a sitting position. "Thanks for lending me your haori, Makomo."

"You're welcome." The girl said, grabbing her haori that she had placed under Sabito's head.

"I understand." Tanjiro nodded.

"By the way, what are you planning to do with her when your sword arrives?" The Water Pillar asked. "You will probably get your first mission the same day so you should prepare in advance."

"I'll bring Nezuko with me." The red haired teen answered, looking at her with a smile. "We won't be separated anymore."

Makomo smiled at the scene.

"Oh, crap." While Sabito suddenly face palmed and groaned.

"Sabito?" Urokodaki asked, surprised at the response.

"This… could be a problem."

"…oh, right." The girl with the fox mask realized what he meant.

"What's wrong?" The Kamado asked.

"There was an emergency meeting a few days ago; long story short, there will be a member of the middle-ranks accompanying you for your first missions and then you will likely be assigned to a squad."

"But that means…" Tanjiro trailed off there as he processed what he just heard. "EHHHHHH?!" And then let out an incredulous yell. "What? That's- Is that how the Demon Slayers operate?!"

"It's a… new approach, one that just began recently." Makomo answered slowly.

"How recently?" Urokodaki asked, not being aware about this before tonight.

"It was decided at the meeting I just mentioned." The peach haired man answered while scratching his neck. "Because of a letter I sent proposing the idea." He finished while looking away.

Tanjiro could only stare incredulously at his sibling disciple.

"Why did it have to be now of all times?" He asked in disbelief, more to himself than them.

"Well… something you said gave me the idea and after working out the details with Makomo I sent the letter to Oyakata-sama." Sabito answered.

"Are you still going to take her with you?" Makomo asked worriedly. "It could be dangerous for her."

"I want to but…" Tanjiro trailed off again.

In response, Nezuko took one of her brother's hands on her own and looked at him with a determined expression.

"I may have a solution." The oldest in the room said, getting up from his spot near the fire. "It's not complete yet but it should at least be of some help." He took out a wooden box from one of the shelves and showed it to them. "I will have it ready by the time your sword arrives, as long as you don't tell other people she is inside there shouldn't be any issues."

"Thank you, Urokodaki-san!" Tanjiro said with a wide smile.

"It will still be dangerous, in fact, I am certain that Nezuko would be safer if you didn't take her with you." The masked man continued.

The demon with the pink kimono let some grumbles while shaking her head.

"But it seems that's not what she wants."

"Just be careful, some Demon Slayers are more adept at detecting demons and could tell that she is in that box." Sabito warned.

"Yes, I'll be careful." The Kamado assure them.

"By the way, I think the food is ready." Makomo interjected.

.

.

After dinner.

"You defeated that demon?" The aqua eyed girl asked, surprise written in her expression.

"Yes, I couldn't run away so I had no choice but to fight." The teen with the hanafuda earrings confirmed and pointed to the bandage on his head. "I got this wound while fighting him but nothing worse."

Sabito let out a large sigh.

"That's a relief." He then frowned. "Tanjiro, do you really not hold a grudge against me for attacking Nezuko?

"Hmm, I don't; you've made amends."

"It doesn't feel like that." The Water Pillar said before standing up. "Come with me." He walked outside of the house, with a puzzled Tanjiro in tow.

The other three followed behind them.

Once outside, Sabito grabbed a pair of wooden swords Urokodaki keeps for practice and gave one to Tanjiro.

"Consider this my way of apologizing for hurting your sister." The peach haired man said as he took some distance.

"But I already forgave you." The red haired teen said with a frown.

"Then consider it my way of thanking you for killing that demon in the Final Selection." He answered before raising one hand and do a 'bring it on' gesture. "Now, come at me."

The Kamado hesitated for a moment longer before nodding and preparing his stance.

Without waiting for any signal, Tanjiro took a deep breath and lunged forward.

'Total Concentration. Water Breathing.' Sabito thought while taking a deep breath as well.

Tanjiro performed a downward slash against Sabito but the latter didn't move, he just stood there, holding the wooden sword with his right hand.

He saw the moment his sword would hit him and-

"…eh?" Suddenly, Tanjiro was about five feet behind Sabito. 'What happened? Did he move?' He turned around to see his sibling disciple but there was no sign he had taken a step from his initial position.

"What's wrong?" The Water Pillar asked as he turned around to face him. "I didn't tell you to stop."

The Kamado jumped back to gain more distance and narrowed his eyes.

'I don't understand, what did he do?' He thought, trying to figure out what happened. 'For now, I'll continue trying to hit him.' With that, he prepared to charge again. 'Water Breathing. First form.' Tanjiro lunged, his sword poised for a horizontal strike as water began to engulf it. 'Water Surface Slash.' He swung his weapon and the result… was the same as last time.

"Again." Sabito spoke up.

The older Kamado complied, holding his sword with one hand with the tip pointing at the peach haired man. 'Seventh form. Piercing Rain Drop.' He unleashed the fastest of the Water Breathing forms and dashed forward, hoping to use speed to defeat whatever Sabito was doing.

It didn't work.

His thrust missed its mark and he was once again a few feet behind Sabito without hitting him.

"Again." The older man repeated.

'I don't get it, I don't get it at all.' Tanjiro thought. 'If this was a real battle then I'm sure I would have died already but I can't see what he is doing, it's like my attacks are moved out of the way without me even noticing.' Truthfully, he would be a lot more worried about this if it was a real battle but Sabito hadn't even tried to counter-attack this entire time. 'Calm down, if one attack isn't enough then attack continuously until I can find an opening.' Bracing himself once more, Tanjiro prepared his wooden sword. 'Total Concentration. Water Breathing.' He lunged forward, his sword poised to strike. 'Tenth form.' The water that engulfs his sword began to take shape as he moved forward, taking the form a dragon that followed the path of the blade. 'The Dragon of change!' Tanjiro struck and, as he expected, the attack didn't connect. 'Not yet.' Without losing momentum he rotated his body and struck again.

Once more, the attack didn't connect.

He continued to attack, constantly rotating to increase the strength of each slash but no matter the angle, the speed or the strength, the dragon's fangs failed to reach their target.

'Damn it, not yet- khg.' Just as he was about to slash again, Tanjiro fell on his knees, the water dragon dissipating into nothingness. 'My breath, stabilize it.' He told himself.

"It was a good attempt." Sabito said. "Did you realize what I was doing?"

"N-no." The Kamado answered as he took deep breaths to calm down. "What was that?"

"It's the eleventh form of the Water Breathing style, 'Lull'."

"The eleventh form?" The younger male repeated. "I thought there were only ten forms in the Water Breathing style."

"There were." The peach haired man answered. "Giyu came up with it a few years ago and taught it to Makomo and me." He said with a grin.

"Wow." The Kamado said in admiration as he moved to a sitting position. "But… how does it work? I can tell that it's a defensive technique but how can you maintain it for so long? Doesn't it take a great toll on your body?"

"Not really but that's because there is a great difference between you and me." Sabito said, also sitting down. "I'll be blunt, at your current level, there is no way you can use the Eleventh form."

"Then how can I get strong enough to use it?"

"First, you need to master another technique." The Water Pillar said. "Tanjiro, have you tried maintaining Total Concentration Breathing at all times?"

"Eh?" The red haired teen's expression seemed to say 'is that a thing?'

"All the Pillars as well as some Demon Slayers already do this, it makes a world of difference between being able to maintain it at all times over just using it when you're going to attack; that's why I was able to keep 'Lull' active during all of your attacks."

"Wha… just using it for a moment is already hard… but I'm supposed to maintain it at all times?" He actually began to shake as he heard this.

"Even while sleeping." Sabito added with a smirk at his gob smacked expression.

"I see…" His expression turned from gob smacked to determined. "I'll do my best!"

"I thought you might say that, I'll give you a few pointers."

Tanjiro thanked him and gave his sibling disciple his full attention.

.

"Hehe, I think Sabito will feel at ease now." Makomo mentioned as she watched the two. "I'm kind of surprised Tanjiro didn't head-butt me as well." She thought out loud.

"Knowing him, he probably understands why you did it and doesn't hold it against you." Her master answered her.

"But he head-butted Sabito." The black haired girl argued.

"Yes, but he hit Nezuko, not him."

Makomo's mouth made an 'o' as she nodded in understanding.

"Is that why you seem to dislike me? Because I hit your brother?" She asked as she leaned forward to look at the demon standing at the other side of Urokodaki.

Nezuko narrowed her eyes at her and mumbled.

"I'm sorry, I was holding back at first but I thought that if I hit him harder he would stay still." Makomo walked in front of her and bowed her head. "I apologize, I won't do it again… do you want to head-butt me as penance as well?"

The demon with the pink kimono tilted her head to the side as she looked at her.

Then raised her right hand and extended her pinky finger.

"Hmm." She mumbled, making the woman with the flower haori raise her head.

"A pinky promise?" Makomo asked a bit puzzled. "Am I promising not to test you again?"

Nezuko closed her eyes and shook her head several times in an exaggerated motion.

"Then, am I promising not to attack you?"

Again, the demon shook her head.

"…am I promising I won't attack your brother?"

Nezuko nodded twice while staring at the other female.

'You two really are siblings.' She thought before a smile formed on her face.

"Alright, I promise I won't attack your brother again." The girl with the fox mask said as she intertwined her pinky finger with hers. 'I never thought I would make a pinky promise with a demon.' She let out a chuckle at the thought.

"Hmm!" Nezuko seemed to smile, or at least that's what her expression seemed to convey, as they separated their fingers.

* * *

Sabito and Makomo left the next day, not before apologizing once more to both Kamado siblings, and wished Tanjiro luck during his first assignment.

Nezuko went back to her room, not wanting to be exposed to the sun while Urokodaki went about his own routine.

Tanjiro went back to training.

He was currently standing outside of the house while trying to follow Sabito's words and maintain Total Concentration Breathing at all times but.

'Kgh.' He suddenly fell down. 'I can't do it at all! I can't do it!' The Kamado thought as he tried to suck in air normally. 'If I try to do Total Concentration Breathing longer, it makes me feel like I'm gonna die! It's too painful! My lungs hurt! My ears hurt! My ears are ringing like crazy! My eardrums-!' He suddenly hit his ears with his hands while letting out a yell before looking at his palms in panic. 'That scared the heck out of me!' He thought while trembling and a few tears fell from his eyes. 'For a second there, I thought my hearth had burst through my ears! I'll never make it at this rate! When you're in trouble go back to basics!' Clenching his fists and teeth, he forced his body to stop trembling. "You spineless fool!"

He took a normal deep breath to calm down and thought about it again.

'Breathing is all about the lungs, if I can't get the hang of it that means my lungs are too weak.' Just that was enough for him to know what to do. 'Work at it! All I can do is work hard! That's the story of my life!' He took another deep breath. 'Hard work is the sum of daily efforts! I thought I wouldn't complete Urokodaki-san's training but I did! I thought I couldn't cut that boulder but I did! That was two years' worth of effort, its fine if it's one step at a time! Move forward!'

"Right!" Having pumped himself up, he began his daily training while trying to maintain Total Concentration Breathing.

.

To say that he was successful would be to say that the sky is red; he could barely do a quarter of his regular training on the mountains while using Total Concentration Breathing and needed a lot more rests in between exercises.

He did notice that it got better as time went on. The first three days he felt like he was suffocating after just going up and down the mountain once; the fourth day he actually managed to go down the mountain, a lot more tired than usual but he didn't feel like he was about to pass out like before.

He spent the entire week working on it but at the end, he could only manage to maintain Total Concentration Breathing for about half a day, and that was without counting when he slept; even if he tried, he didn't think he was managing to continue using the breathing technique when he wasn't conscious.

* * *

Morning, eight days later.

Tanjiro was about to leave the house to begin training when he saw a person walking towards it.

He is wearing a sunflower-patterned robe and a large, woven hat with hanging floral wind chimes covered his face. He also had what looked like a rectangular box covered in cloth strapped to his back.

The man continued his walk and stood in front of the red haired teen.

"Um…"

"My name is Haganezuka." The man said. "I have forged Kamado Tanjiro's sword, and I am here to deliver it."

The red haired teen widened his eyes in surprise but quickly bowed in greeting.

"Um, I'm Kamado Tanjiro." He said once he was standing straight again. "Please come inside."

"This is the Nichirin Sword." Haganezuka said, sitting on the ground with his back turned and removing the cloth; completely ignoring Tanjiro's words. "And I forged it."

"Um… Please come in so I can serve you some te-"

"The materials for a Nichirin Sword can be obtained from the mountain closest to the sun." He interrupted, or it as more like, he wasn't even listening to him in the first place. "Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Crimson Ore. These produce steel that can absorb sunlight." The man explained while pointing at the sun.

"Wow, is that right?" The Kamado asked, genuinely interested.

"Mt. Yoko is bathed in sunlight all day long, you see." Haganezuka continued. "Never a cloud in the sky, nor any rain."

"I understand but… you're going to get dirty, so could you get up for a second?"

The man turned to see him in the eye, letting Tanjiro see his face that the hat was covering until now.

Or that's what would have happened, except that the man was wearing a mask; it looked to resemble the face of a man, with big eyes with black pupils and the mouth was shaped in a way that it seemed to be blowing wind.

"A Hyottoko?" Tanjiro asked in surprise.

"Hmm? Hmm!" Haganezuka looked at Tanjiro as if examining him. "Hey, you're a Child of Brightness, aren't you? Now that's what I call lucky."

"Oh no, I'm the son of Tanjuro and Kie." The Kamado answered completely serious while raising one hand in a 'that's wrong' gesture.

"That's not what I meant." The masked man said before pointing at his head. "See how your hair and eyes are a reddish color?" He moved his finger and pointed at his face. "When a kid like you is born into a family that works with fire…" He suddenly poked him in his cheek, making Tanjiro lean back a bit as he pushed. "…it's considered lucky and a cause for celebration."

"Is that right? I had no idea." Tanjiro answered.

"There's a good chance that this sword will turn red! Right, Urokodaki?" The swordsmith asked, knowing that the other masked man would be listening inside the house.

"Yeah." Sakonji said simply.

Finally, Haganezuka stopped poking Tanjiro and entered the house, followed by the teen.

The youngest of the three sat in front of his master while Haganezuka took a seat next to Urokodaki before giving him the sword.

At first glance, it was a simple katana; the sheath was black as well as the guard and the grip.

"Come on, hurry up and draw it!" The swordsmith urged while making a wave motion with both his hands.

Tanjiro saw it but decided not to ask.

"Nichirin Sword are also known 'Color Changing Swords'. They change color depending on the bearer."

Widening his eyes for a second at that, Tanjiro did as told and unsheathed the blade.

'It looks normal.' He thought as he examined the silver steel of his weapon.

Tanjiro adjusted his grip and the sword quickly began to change color, starting from the guard the new color it began to rise until the entire blade turned pitch black.

"Black!" Haganezuka said with a huff.

"It's black, huh?" Urokodaki said calmly.

"Eh? Is it bad or something if it turns black?" Tanjiro asked, a bit afraid at their reactions. "Is it unlucky?"

"No, not necessarily." His master reassured him. "But you don't see this pitch black too often."

While this was happening, Haganezuka was trembling in his seat and finally exploded.

"And I was so hoping I'd get to see a bright red sword! Dammit!" Out of nowhere, he jumped on Tanjiro and pinned him to the ground; laying down face down, Haganezuka used his right leg to immobilize the teen's right arm, his left leg to keep his body still, his left arm to hold onto the teen's left arm and his right arm to choke him using Tanjiro's black haori.

"Ouch! Stop!" The Kamado said as the older man tightened his grip. "Please calm down! How old do you think you are?!"

"I'm thirty-seven!" He answered as he continued to 'punish' him because his sword didn't change to the color he wanted to see.

As Tanjiro fought to get him off, moving to a sitting position while the masked man grabbed his left cheek and pulled, a crow came in from the window and landed on the ground.

"Kamado Tanjiro!" It said, turning its head towards the aforementioned. "Here are your orders!"

"Eh?" Tanjiro stared after finally getting Haganezuka off him and keeping him at bay with one arm. "It talks."

"Make your way to a town to the northwest! Young girls have been vanishing there!"

As he heard that, Tanjiro realized what this was.

"Hunt down the demon lurking there and kill it! Kamado Tanjiro, prepare yourself well for this task! This is your first assignment as a Demon Hunter!"

"My first… assignment…" He repeated with some nervousness but it was quickly dissipated as he looked at his blade.

With a mental nod, he tightened his grip on his weapon and cleared his mind of any doubts.

No more training or tests, from now on the real battles begin.

* * *

**And here is another one.**

**As always, I hope you enjoyed!**

**Next time, the first mission and you will meet Tanjiro's temporary partner.**

**Here is a hint, it's a character that appeared in the anime/manga, I'll give virtual pancakes to anyone that can guess it right.**

**Until next time.**

**PS: Once again, I wish to remind you about what I said at the author notes at the beginning; I promise that, unless something changes, this is the last time I bring it up**.


	7. First mission

**First mission**

**Welcome to another chapter!**

**First of all, guest review answer corner.**

**.**

**The Joining: I understand what you mean, however, I disagree. Allow me to explain my reasoning:**

**It is stated that during their training days Sabito was stronger than Giyu and, had he survived the Final Selection, he would have likely become the Water Pillar instead. But, if he were to create a new form for the Water Breathing Style I don't think it would be 'Lull' because Sabito is _not_ Giyu. 'Lull' is Giyu's form, a form that he created because it suits _his _style so in the event that Sabito creates a new form it would be something that he created for himself that fits his style and not what Giyu did, simply because they are two different people.**

**And I don't remember ever saying that he _didn't_ create another form.**

**.**

**Since most reviews were more or less saying the same I will answer this here:**

**About Tanjiro's temporary partner, only one person got it right; I'll give you your virtual pancakes at the end notes!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Fortunately for Tanjiro, Haganezuka calmed down and stopped taking his 'revenge' against him for not showing him a red colored sword and with his business concluded, he left Mt. Sagiri.

The Kamado meanwhile began to change into his uniform; putting on the baggy pants, buttoning up the jacket with the character for 'destroy' written on its back and putting his checkered dark turquoise and black patterned haori on top of it.

"Tanjiro." Urokodaki called out.

"Yes?"

"Here." The old man said as he extended his right arm.

"This is…"

"It's your own warding mask." He said as the red haired teen took the offered item. "I hope it can protect you if you're ever in a dangerous situation."

"Thank you very much." The Kamado smiled as he looked at the mask.

It was a lot like Sabito's and Makomo's, completely white and resembling a fox the only differences was that it had what looked like a sun on the left side of the forehead, the same place that Tanjiro has his scar, and two red dots at the corners of the mouth.

Without any more words he adjusted it to the left side of his head and moved around a bit to make sure that it wouldn't fall off.

"I would have modified it so the scar looks more like how it looks now had I known, my apologies."

"Please don't worry about it, I didn't even realize until you pointed it out." Tanjiro assured him.

The scar on his forehead that resembled a graze had changed to look like a large dark red scar; Urokodaki hadn't noticed it until today when Tanjiro had taken off the gauze over it and it was too late to make modifications at the mask in time for his mission.

"Come sit, I'd like to explain a few more things before you depart."

Nodding, both males sat in seiza in front of each other.

"First; the Demon Slayer Corps outfit you're wearing, it is made of a special kind of fiber." Sakonji began. "The fabric is quite breathable, yet it repels moisture and won't burn easily. A low-level demon's talons or fangs couldn't even manage to tear that uniform."

Widening his eyes slightly, Tanjiro looked at his uniform.

"It's that strong?" He asked, more in surprise than as an actual question.

"Also, that Nichirin Sword of yours, the color varies from owner to owner and each hue has unique properties but since not many people end up with black blades, little is known about them." Urokodaki seemed to hesitate for a second before continuing. "Since so little is known about them, black blades are said to be wielded by swordsmen who'll never go far."

In response to this, Tanjiro smiled.

"I don't know how I'll do in the Demon Slayer Corps but I'm going to turn Nezuko back into a human no matter what." He looked at his sister, who was looking at him from her room while underneath the covers of her futon.

"Yes, you're right." The Kamado's master nodded. "I have faith that you're going to make that happen."

"I will."

"Two more things; first…" Urokodaki took the box he had showed him a week ago, now completed. "Here."

The box is a dark brown color with three black colored metal braces around it and a handle on one side to open it with two white straps on the opposite side.

"I managed to complete it in time, it's built of an extremely light wood called 'Cloud Mist Pine' and I coated it with rock lacquer to reinforce its exterior and to make it even more durable."

"Thank you very much." Tanjiro said as he grabbed the box with his two hands. "It's so light!" He exclaimed in surprise, it probably didn't weight more than that basket he made two years ago. "It's really light, Urokodaki-san."

Smiling, he placed the box in front of Nezuko and kneeled besides it.

"Nezuko! Get inside this, will you?" He asked her with a smile. "Can you do it?"

Without a word, she changed her body to her child-like size and moved from under the covers to inside the box.

"Nezuko." The older Kamado said, moving in front of the box while smiling. "From now on, we're always gonna be together, okay?"

The demon smiled under her muzzle and nodded happily as Tanjiro closed the box.

"Now for the second thing." The masked man said as Tanjiro sat down in front of him again. "It's about the one responsible for turning your sister into a demon."

Tanjiro's eyes widened at this but he remained silent and waited for him to continue.

"While any demon could be responsible for killing your family, we only know of _one_ that is capable of turning other people into demons." Even behind the mask, the red haired teen could tell that Urokodaki was glaring. "The first demon to be born, if anyone knows of a way to turn a demon back into a human then it would be him." The trainer took a deep breath before continuing. "His name, is Kibutsuji Muzan."

"Kibutsuji Muzan." Tanjiro repeated to engrave that name in his mind. 'He was the one responsible.' Images of his family laying dead on the floor of his home flashed through his mind.

It took him a full minute to calm down again.

"Thank you for everything, Urokodaki-san."

"It was my pleasure."

Placing the box on his back, Tanjiro walked out of the house with Urokodaki in tow.

"All right, I'll be going now." He said after turning around to look at his master.

"Hold on." Sakonji said. "Do you mind?" He asked as he fixed the teen's collar and made sure the straps of the box were fine.

Giving him a nod that the Kamado reciprocated the masked man watched him go until he was out of sight.

'Now then… I should write a letter to Oyakata-sama.' Sakonji thought. 'Good luck, Tanjiro.'

* * *

It took Tanjiro a few hours to get to the town his crow had told him about; he simply followed the bird as it continued to tell him to go to the town non-stop while flying ahead of him.

The Kasugai Crow also told him that there would be another Demon Slayer waiting for him there to assess his capabilities; he already knew, since Sabito and Makomo told him, but the crow must not have known that.

The place reminded Tanjiro of his hometown, it wasn't the same of course; there was a river below the bridge he crossed to get into the town proper that his didn't have but the similar looking wooden buildings, the roads and even the people to some extent reminded him of home.

Shaking his head to stop his musings, Tanjiro looked around for the person that would be his examiner and partner.

He didn't have to look far.

Standing at the side of the road and wearing the same uniform as him was a woman, probably around three of four years older than him with black hair tied into a short ponytail with some bangs hanging over her face, black eyes and, of course, a sword sheathed at her waist.

The Kamado couldn't help to feel a bit uneasy, the box he carried suddenly seeming to weight more than before.

'It's okay, it will be okay.' He thought to himself as he took a deep breath before walking towards her.

"Excuse me." He called out to the woman, making her turn towards him.

"You must be the mizunoto I'm here to assess." She said calmly.

"Yes, I'm Kamado Tanjiro." The red haired teen bowed.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Ozaki, my rank is tsuchinoto." She said, returning his bow. "Walk with me; I'll explain the situation and how to hunt a demon while we search the town."

Nodding, the Kamado fell into step besides her.

"Have you ever fought a demon? Not counting the ones you encountered during the Final Selection."

"One time, I was going towards my master's home for the first time and I happened to encounter one."

"How would you say that demon compares to the ones you faced during the Final Selection?"

"Hmm… looking back on it, he was pretty weak; I'd say he was more or less the same as the ones during the Final Selection… well, save for one particular demon I happened to come across in Mt. Fujikasane."

"Oh?" Ozuki raised an eyebrow, silently asking him to explain.

"He was a mutated demon, he had a lot of arms coverings his body; I happened to run into him during the first night and managed to cut off his head." He summarized.

"I see, there are a good number of demons like that." The woman hummed. "In any case, I asked around before you got here; apparently, whenever a girl disappears it's always during the night, the people that were with them, if there were any, all claim that she just vanished into thin air."

"Could it be a Blood Demon Art?"

"That's what I was thinking." She said with an approving nod. "I can't say exactly what it does but the chances of being a demon without a Blood Art are next to none."

"Is there any way to figure out what this demon's ability does?"

"Not without fighting it directly, I'm afraid; that tends to be the rule for most encounters with a demon." Ozaki answered with a shrug, as if saying 'that's just how it is'. "Don't get me wrong; it's possible to make educated guesses but, in my experience, it's better to go into a fight with the least amount of preconceptions about a demon's ability as possible. If you prepared for a fight thinking 'this demon can do this' and it turns out that you were completely wrong, then any preparations you made before are useless and you could panic because of the surprise, that is the _last_ thing you want to do."

"You make it sound as if it had happened to you before." Tanjiro noted.

"We were all new to this once, I almost died during my second mission because I made the wrong assumptions." The black haired woman said. "Like I said, theorizing and educated guesses are fine but always keep in mind that you could be completely wrong."

"I understand, thank you for the advice." He said with a nod.

"Don't mention it; if it raises your chances of survival even a little I will hammer this knowledge into your head, whether you want me to or not." She answered with a grin. "Let's get back on topic; when you're tracking a demon… I hate to say it but we don't have much choice but to follow the bodies or hope that they appear during the night and we manage to catch them in the act."

"I see…" The younger of the two muttered with a thoughtful expression. "Actually, I may be able to help with that."

"I'm listening."

"I have a good nose, I could be able to sniff the demon out."

Ozaki stopped walking and gave the teen a skeptic look.

"You can smell demons." She said, her tone giving away her disbelief.

"Yes." Tanjiro answered with a nod, having also stopped moving.

'…It doesn't seem like he is lying.' The woman thought, looking at the expression that seemed to say 'I haven't told a lie in my life' on her junior's face. "Prove it."

Without a word, the Kamado closed his eyes and began to sniff out the air; not three seconds later he extended his arm and pointed to the way they came from.

"Five kids are about to walk around the corner, three girls and two boys, all between the ages of eight and ten, they're playing with a mari and two of the girls are sisters."

Almost the moment he finished talking, five kids appeared from the corner he pointed at, all of them with the features he mentioned as well as a mari they were passing among each other.

"…well." She said, blinking a few times in surprise. "Sorry for doubting you."

"No, no, I get that I have an unusual sense of smell." He assured her waving one hand in front of his face. "It took a while for the people at my home to accept it when I first showed it."

"I can imagine." Ozaki said with a chuckle before they began walking again. "So, are you picking up any scents?"

"Not so far, I could get something if I go to a place the demon has been around recently."

"I got the name and the address of the latest victim's fiancée; apparently, he was with her when she disappeared." The woman said. "He could point us in the right direction."

"Yes."

With that, the two picked up their pace.

"By the way, what is your Breath Style?"

"The Breath of Water." Tanjiro answered. "And yours?"

"The Breath of Wind." Ozaki said. "I'm not sure how well we'll merge during a fight, it might be better to fight individually if it comes down to it."

"We don't know that yet." The Kamado argued. "Let's try first, if we see that we're getting in each other's way then one of us will fall back."

"Sounds good."

They spent the time it took them to reach the last victim's fiancée's home discussing how they should approach the fight that will inevitably take place.

* * *

"It's here." Ozaki said.

She and Tanjiro were standing in front of one of the many houses in the town.

"Fair warning, we don't know how he will react to our presence; he may not let us talk at all."

"If that happens, I will walk around town until I can pick up a scent." The Kamado answered, completely intending to go through with it if necessary.

"Hehe, let's call that the plan B." The woman said with a giggle before her expression turned serious. "I'm supposed to be assessing you so, unless it looks like you need a hand, I will leave the talking to you."

"Yes."

Ozaki walked forward and knocked on the door, waiting for someone to answer.

"…"

"…"

When no one answered, she knocked again and waited but like before, there was no response.

"Maybe there is no one inside." The black haired woman thought out loud.

"No, someone's in there." Tanjiro said, sniffing the air. "I can smell a person inside, definitely a man." He took a few steps forward and knocked. "Excuse me! We know you're in there, we wish to talk about your fiancée's disappearance."

They heard a rustle and some steps that stopped just on the other side of the door.

"Who are you?" The voice was definitely male and it sounded… defeated, for lack of a better word.

"We believe that your fiancée's disappearance is linked to our line of work, we would like to ask your help in discovering what happened." He explained calmly.

There was a moment of hesitation from the male inside the house, before the door opened revealing its occupant.

"You're Kazumi-san, correct?"

"That's correct." Kazumi answered with a nod.

He is a young man with dark brown hair and brown eyes; one would call him a 'normal' person, the type that you would see walking around town among many. The only thing that would make him stand out is the bruises on his face and how haggard he looked.

"You say that Satoko's disappearance is linked to your work?" He asked with a vacant look.

"Yes, we would like to ask for your help in finding out what happened." Tanjiro answered. "Could you tell us how she disappeared?"

A pained expression flashed across his face and he looked down.

"I don't know what happened, we were walking together and suddenly she was just… gone." Kazumi answered with a trembling voice.

"…can you take us to the place where she disappeared?" The Kamado asked.

"Eh?" The brown haired man looked up at him. "Then… you believe me?"

"Yes." The red haired teen nodded. "I believe you."

"…alright." With that, he exited the house and closed the door. "Follow me."

.

.

Twenty minutes later the three were at a crossroad.

"This is the place." Kazumi said. "We were taking a walk, I think I told a joke, I remember we were laughing and…" He trailed off there, gritting his teeth. "You may not believe me, though."

"We believe you!" Tanjiro answered immediately. "We believe you, alright!" He repeated to assure him before kneeling on the ground and bringing his face close to the ground. 'There's still a faint trace of demon scent.' The red haired teen thought as the smell entered his nostrils. 'But its uneven so to speak… something's strange.'

'Who are these two, anyway?' Kazumi thought, looking from the teen to the woman standing beside him. He brought a hand to one of his bruises, all of them from Satoko's father, and winced. 'At least they're willing to believe me.'

Without a word, Tanjiro stood up and began to walk, making the other two follow him.

.

The rest of the day was spent with Tanjiro walking around the town trying to find the demon; he would kneel on the ground to sniff it, get up, move to another spot and repeat.

During all of this, Ozaki kept her eyes on her junior.

'There are no problems with his attitude and if his nose lets him find a demon, that alone makes him valuable.' She thought; she is here to asses him after all. 'One mission won't be enough to have a definitive answer but I can't say I have complaints so far…' The black haired woman trailed off there while staring. 'Well, I wouldn't call it a complaint but…' She glanced around at all the people watching them. 'He brings way too much attention to himself.'

.

By the time the sun was beginning to set, the three had walked around most of the town. Sadly, there weren't any new leads so far.

"I want you to believe me." Kazumi suddenly spoke up, earning the swordsmen's attention. "She really did vanish."

"We believe you." Tanjiro answered immediately. "After all, that's why we're here."

After that exchange, the three went back to walking silently while following the Kamado's lead. It wasn't until after midnight that Kazumi broke the silence again.

"You're gonna keep going?"

"Yes." The red haired teen answered without stopping.

"Look how late it's gotten." The older male said. "I'm flattered that you're so concerned for me, but shouldn't you pick up again tomorrow and get some rest?"

Tanjiro suddenly kneeled again.

"Those things are active during the night so we can't afford to rest." Sniffing the air, he turned his head to the side. "I've detected a new scent in this area it's gotta be somewhere nearby."

"Those things…" Kazumi trailed off, looking between the two sword users. "Don't tell me you two are…"

'…I'm not exactly keen on letting people know about demons but it's not like we can hide it from him; there is no way he will go back home even if we tell him.' Ozaki thought, keeping her face neutral under the human's stare.

Suddenly, Tanjiro gasped and began running.

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Kazumi asked, looking at the teen that was already a good distance away. 'So fast!'

A moment later, he saw Ozaki run to catch up with him.

"Did you find it?"

"The scent just got stronger, the demon's at large!" He answered before jumping on top of a roof to cut the distance between him and where the demon is.

The tsuchinoto was quick to follow him while Kazumi could only try and keep up.

He did notice something, though; their talk about demons, how they believed him without question, fighting on the night. It all led to one conclusion.

'They're from the Demon Slayer corps! They're real!'

.

.

Tanjiro landed just outside a large house with stone walls surrounding it, with Ozaki landing beside him a few moments later.

'This is it!' He thought, unsheathing his sword and preparing his guard. 'They're here right now!'

"Can you tell where they are?" The woman asked, also unsheathing her sword revealing a light green colored blade.

The Kamado didn't answer and simply prepared his stance.

'Two different scents, a demon and a female human!' He thought while looking around. 'They're nowhere to be seen, but…' He took a few steps to his right while maintaining his stance before turning his sword around and point it to the ground. 'The spot where the scent is strongest… is right here!' The red haired teen stabbed the ground.

A moment later, a black smoke emerged and an unnatural mud like dark spot appeared from thin air.

That wasn't what caught his attention, though; what caught his attention was the purple kimono floating on the spot.

He immediately grabbed the cloth and pulled, pulling a girl around his age from the spot while the demon's hand reached out, a torn piece of her kimono on its hand.

"I am never doubting your sense of smell, Kamado." The woman said, preparing to charge the demon.

Said demon got its upper half outside of the black spot to reveal its appearance.

He is a man with pale skin and long blue hair with two long strands of violet on both sides of his face, supported by two golden hair separators; his eyes were completely red with no pupils, he has three horns protruding from his forehead and the veins around that area were bulging prominently.

He wore what looked like a shinobi garment sewn with meshes on both sides of the arms, shoulders and thorax and a bottleneck shirt underneath it.

"Where are the girls you kidnapped?" Tanjiro asked.

Instead of answering, the demon began to grind its teeth, making an inhuman screeching sound.

It continued for a few seconds before diving back inside the black spot.

"Who was that?" Kazumi asked with a gulp, having caught up just in time to see the demon disappear.

"Kazumi-san, please hold this person and stand near Ozaki-san." Tanjiro said, giving him the girl before looking at his superior. "I will face the demon while you keep them safe."

"That's fine with me." She answered, moving closer to the two. "I'll make sure the demon doesn't touch them, I'll jump in if I think that you need help, don't get too far away from me."

The swordsman nodded and prepared his stance before taking a few steps away from them.

'From the ground and this wall.' He thought while looking around. 'It can probably emerge from anywhere… there's also the chance that it could show up out of thin air.' The red eyed teen tried to catch sight of that black spot but it had disappeared the moment the demon had dived inside. 'I can't see it but…' He trailed off and closed his eyes. 'Even when it's submerged, it can't erase its scent!' Tanjiro focused on his nose and waited for the scent to grow stronger. '…here it comes!'

Opening his eyes, he turned around and ran in the opposite direction, his sword pointing backwards and poised to strike.

'Water Breathing, Fifth form!' He was ready to attack the place where the demon was about to emerge when, instead of one black spot, three appeared and a demon emerged from each one. 'There's three of them!'

Tanjiro quickly jumped back to avoid the demons that tried to grab him, the lower halves of their bodies still hidden inside the mud like spot.

'Calm down!' The demons were quick to follow and tried to grab him again. 'You can do it!'

Moving his sword to another stance, he changed forms in mid-air.

'Eight Form…' Water began to engulf his weapon. 'Waterfall Jar!' And he swung downwards, slashing the three demons simultaneously.

Three arms flew up, all of them from the demons.

'Too shallow!' The Kamado thought with a scowl. 'I missed all the vulnerable spots because I switched forms midway through!'

Another mud puddle appeared underneath the arms and they all fell inside it; their owners quickly doing the same.

Tanjiro jumped back to gain some distance and prepared his stance once more.

"You okay?" Ozaki asked, looking everywhere but towards him in case those demons tried anything.

"I'm fine." He assured her before his mind went back to the battle. 'All three of them have the exact same scent.' The Kamado began to sniff the air again, the demon's smell was still near him but it was a bit weak, which means they are currently inside that puddle. 'I was told that demons don't band together as a rule… so, one demon has dispersed into three.' He took a quick peek behind him, towards Kazumi and the unconscious girl. 'I'm glad Ozaki-san is with me, if she can protect them I can focus on the fight... and try to get one to tell me about that demon, about Kibutsuji Muzan.' Just as he thought that, the scent got stronger. "Ozaki-san, behind you!"

'Total Concentration.' The tsuchinoto was already moving before her junior could finish talking. 'Wind Breathing, Second Form.' She poised her sword upwards above her head and to her right. 'Claws-Purifying Wind.' She brought down her sword vertically, making two blades of wind slash at her opponent, the first aimed at the arm that was attempting to skewer Kazumi and the girl in his arms while the second aimed for the demon's neck.

The first blade met its mark, almost completely cutting off the appendage and making the demon stop its attack; the second was approaching the head but just when it was about to connect, the demon seemed to be yanked back down barely avoiding the attack.

The puddle quickly moved away from her.

'Almost got it, it looked like one of the others pulled him down to save him.' Ozaki thought, moving back to her normal stance.

"You bastards!" The demon that just tried to attack them yelled. "Back off for crying out loud!" He pointed at the girl. "That girl's gonna go stale on me, dammit!"

This one was different from the first demon they encountered, although not by much, the only differences were that his attire doesn't have sleeves and that he has two horns on each side of its forehead instead of three.

"That girl's already 16, okay? If I don't devour her soon, she' gonna lose flavor by the second."

Tanjiro and Ozaki simply glared in his direction while Kazumi had an expression as if he was going to be sick at any moment.

On the opposite side, another puddle formed and from it emerged the third demon.

This one only has one horn in the center of his forehead and wears a long-sleeved shinobi uniform with meshes on its wrists and neck.

"Calm down, my other self." The one-horned demon spoke, his calm manner a stark contrast to the one with two horns.

The Kamado immediately moved to face him, letting Ozaki watch the other one.

"Hey, so what? There are gonna be nights like this." One-horn said with a smile as he moved his right hand to his chin and his left one under his right elbow. "I've already fed on plenty of 16-year-old girls in this town; they were all quite meaty and delicious. I'm satisfied."

Tanjiro could feel his blood boil with every word but resisted the urge to attack him, knowing that he will simply dive back into that mud puddle before he can reach him.

"Well, I'm not satisfied, my other self!" The two-horned demon screamed at his counterpart. "I wanna consume more!"

"Y-you monster…" Kazumi muttered, looking at the one the demon that just spoke. "Return Satoko to me. The one you abducted the night before last!"

An inhuman screeching sound caught the three humans' attention and they turned to see the demon with three horns on top of the stone wall, like his counter-parts, his body was half submerged on the mud.

Suddenly, the one with two horns began to make the same sound.

"Satoko?" The calm one asked, earning the brown haired man's attention. "Who are you talking about?" He asked, opening his jacket.

The sight inside made Kazumi stare in shock.

"If her hairpin is among these collectibles, then I've devoured her." He said, seeming to take some sadistic glee in watching the tears fall from the man's eyes; he clearly recognized one of the hairpins there if the despair in his expression was any indication.

Without more words, the three demons disappeared once again.

'This demon…' Tanjiro thought, the faces of his family coming to mind after what he just heard. 'Unforgivable!'

He didn't have time to lose himself in his rage, as the demon with three horns lunged from under the puddle, his right hand ready to pierce through him.

The Kamado jumped to the side, making sure to stay in range of attack, and spun in mid-air cutting off the demon's arm.

'He can escape underground so fast!'

Another puddle formed on the wall.

'Oh no! I got too close to the wall!'

He managed to spin in mid-air, the demon's hand barely missing his face, and land in a crouch; quickly dodging the follow-up from underneath the ground, only for one of the bodies to spawn behind him with his arm ready to strike.

_SHING_

The arm was swiftly cut off by Ozaki, forcing the demon to dive back down.

"Thanks!" Tanjiro said, dodging another strike and slashing at the demon, cutting its shoulder.

Another one of the bodies jumped out before he could follow up on the attack, making him jump away, getting some distance between himself and her senior.

The body with two horns jumped then, trying to grab the girl from Kazumi's arms but Ozaki moved between them and did a downwards slash forcing him to stop.

Meanwhile, a puddle formed between the Kamado and the other humans, cutting him off from them.

The Kamado stared the black mud for a moment before looking at her senior.

"Ozaki-san, I'm going underground." He declared.

"What?"

"I'll fight the other two inside their Blood Demon Art, I'll be back soon."

"Wai-tch" She couldn't finish her sentence since the body with two horns attacked.

'Just in case.' Tanjiro put down the box with Nezuko in it. "I'll be back Nezuko, should you be in danger then defend yourself and then run. I will find you." He whispered before stepping onto the puddle and quickly submerging.

'That kid…' Ozaki trailed off, looking back at her opponent.

.

.

As Tanjiro submerged, he opened his eyes to look around and saw that the area the demons were using was a lot more spacious than what its entrance would let you to believe.

Almost no light shined there, with only the moon from the puddle Tanjiro entered from as the only way to illuminate it; although, even if there was a light down there, the murky water that seemed to be the entire space would have made it difficult for it to truly illuminate anything.

'It looks like the inside of a swamp…' The red haired swordsman thought, looking at his surroundings. 'And these are…' Floating around there were several kimonos, all of different colors and patterns. 'Are these the clothes and belongings of the people who were kidnapped? Just look at all the innocents they've murdered!' He felt his blood boil at the sight. 'Unforgivable! This is unforgivable!'

Before he could think more on it, though, the body with one horn spoke up, his voice clear despite the place they were in.

"Getting hard to breathe, brat?" He asked with a chuckle. "There's hardly any air inside this swamp. On top of that, the darkness around your body must feel pretty heavy." He let out a laugh, clearly thinking that he and the body with three horns will be able to kill him quickly. "You can't move the way you would aboveground! Serves you right! You should've looked before you leaped in, you damn fool!"

With those words as the signal, the two demons began to swim around the swordsman, the one with three horns gritting his teeth to make that inhuman noise as if trying to intimidate him.

'Don't underestimate me!' The Kamado thought, following their movements even with the poor visibility. It's true that it was harder to breathe than aboveground but considering the place where got his training, this was no issue

'The air was thinner on top of Mt. Sagiri!' Gripping his sword confidently, he prepared to unleash his technique. 'Not to mention, there are moves that only unleash their full potential underwater!'

The two demons circled him once more, before lunging at the swordsman from opposite directions.

Tanjiro prepared his sword, moving it to his right and the blade behind his head, ready to slash.

Instead of finishing their attack, the demons suddenly moved upwards in a burst of speed, making an 'X' on top of the teen and with that same speed, began to move around the swamp, turning in angles that they weren't able to on the surface.

Tanjiro noticed this and his answer to his enemies' new found speed was.

'It doesn't matter!' Unless it was a speed he couldn't react to or they had a way to completely mask their movements from him, nothing changed. 'All I have to do is slash when they get near enough to attack!' Moving his lower body to the left, while moving his upper body to the right, he waited for them to close in on him. 'The form that can be utilized even when there's no sure footing, generating a powerful vortex with a violent twist of my upper and lower body!' Having prepared his form, Tanjiro closed his eyes and focused on his sense of smell.

The two demons quickly rushed in his direction, poising their arms as if to stab him with it.

'Here comes the scent!' The Kamado opened his eyes and began his technique. 'The opening thread!' He twisted his body, using the momentum to add strength to his swing. 'Total Concentration! Water Breathing! Sixth form!' The water that the demons thought was on their side twisted along the Demon Slayer's technique. 'Twisting whirlpool!' And began to move violently, the flow of the water being strong enough to not only stop them on their tracks but also cut them into pieces, including their necks.

A few seconds later, the whirlpool stopped, revealing Tanjiro in the middle of it and allowing him to see the cut up bodies of the demons floating around.

'I did it.' He thought with a nod as he made sure the bodies were beginning to disappear. 'Hmm? That's…' A piece of cloth from the one-horned demon caught his attention and he grabbed it.

He stared at it for a moment with a sad look before he felt his lungs demanding air and began to swim for the surface.

'It will be okay, Ozaki-san shouldn't have any problems fighting against only one of them… wait, this scent is- I have to hurry!'

.

.

While Tanjiro was fighting underground.

A clawed hand attempted to skewer the swordswoman, she side-stepped to the right to avoid it and slashed with her sword aiming for her enemy's neck.

The demon jumped backwards to avoid it and tried to dive back inside his Blood Demon Art.

Ozaki realized this and quickly closed the distance, performing a downwards slash that once again forced the demon to dodge and kept him aboveground.

'His Blood Demon Art was troublesome but if you take that and his extra bodies away, he's no different from a demon without a technique.' The black haired woman thought as she continued to slash at the demon.

A downward slash was dodged to the side and a punch was thrown in retaliation; the swordswoman ducked under it and tried to go for the legs, making the demon jump, he then spun forwards, bringing his right leg down and forcing the demon slayer to move to the side.

She immediately lunged forwards again, knowing that if she let up on her attacks it would only give her opponent the chance to dive underground.

A horizontal slash met its mark, making a cut across the demon's torso but before she could aim for the neck, the demon kicked at her, forcing her to raise an arm to block.

It didn't do much damage but the force behind the attack made her skid on the ground and sent her near the wall.

This time the demon lunged forward, its left arm once again poised to pierce through her and end her life.

'Now, Wind Breathing, Sixth Form.' She moved her sword to the side and prepared to attack the moment he entered her range. 'Bla-'

_SPLASH_

From the wall behind her, the sound of water was heard and a black puddle appeared, a clawed hand already moving to pierce her from the back.

'Crap! I can't block the two from this position!' Ozaki realized as the hand moved closer and-

_SHING_

The sound of flesh being cut was heard and the arm from the wall was suddenly sent flying.

Although she couldn't finish her technique, Ozaki recovered from the initial shock and moved her body out of the way and then cut off the two-horned demon's arm with an upwards slash.

"Damn it! Why are you here?!" The demon yelled as he jumped back, his left hand holding his new wound. 'Did the other two get taken out?'

"Thanks for that Kamado." The woman said, her eyes never leaving the demon.

"Don't mention it; I'm glad I made it in time." He answered, already on guard. "I took down the other two bodies while underground."

"Hm? Then that thing that just attacked me-"

Almost as if summoned, a puddle formed on the floor and tried to strike at them; the red haired teen simply grabbed the arm with one hand and pulled, taking the body attacked to it from inside the swamp and smashing it against the wall.

"I picked up the same scent from two different placed while underground." He said, pining the demon to the wall as it trashed around, trying to get free. "I had already defeated the other two so I thought there must have been a fourth demon and hurried back."

'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! That fourth body is still too impulsive and doesn't listen to orders! It can't even form sentences, you should have stayed hidden so that at least one of us would survive, idiot!' The only other demon remaining yelled in his mind as he glared at his last counterpart.

Like the others, the fourth demon looked exactly the same as its counterparts, with pale skin, red eyes without pupils and veins bulging; the only differences were that this one didn't have any horns and its clothes were a simple vest and shorts instead of the shinobi-like outfits the others wore.

Making the same screeching sound as the others, the fourth body summoned the puddle on the surface of the wall he was pinned against, immediately getting inside thanks to Tanjiro pushing him against it.

'I won't let you.' The red haired teen immediately tried to pull back but the puddle closed, severing the arm he was holding and allowing the demon to escape. 'Tch.' He quickly threw the arm away and took some distance from the wall, along with Ozaki before once again holding his sword with both arms.

'Now!' The two horned demon summoned the puddle again from underneath him-

"Don't let him get away!" The tsuchinoto yelled, already dashing forwards to stop him, Tanjiro quickly following behind her.

'Damn it! Damn it! I won't make it in time!' The demon panicked, giving up on using his Blood Demon Art and preparing to dodge.

'…this scent!' Tanjiro's eyes widened and he stopped his dash, crouching on the ground while Ozaki continued forward.

When she was one jump from the two-horned demon, a puddle opened.

Right above her, in the air, and the hornless counterpart emerged from it, dashing downwards with his arm poised for a horizontal strike that would take off the swordswoman's head.

'We weren't able to make puddles in mid-air! Something good came out of you, after all!' The demon thought, smiling wickedly as he saw his counterpart's attack get closer. 'The moment he takes her head off I'll dive underground and we'll double-team the brat!' He was already preparing his Blood Demon Art once again while thinking this.

'Second Form! Water Wheel!' But that hope was vanished when he saw Tanjiro in the air, spinning with his sword and cutting his counterpart's arm and head with one swing.

'You're open!' Not wasting the chance, Ozaki dashed forwards while the two-horned demon was in shock, he tried to recover and moved his arm to hit but she was able to easily side-step the desperate move, land to his right and then jump to the opposite side cutting off his head.

'I'm used to fighting alone so I wasn't sure if having a partner would be a good thing but…' She trailed off as she landed and turned around. 'Having someone watch your back is really comforting.'

"Ozaki-san." Tanjiro called out.

"Yes?"

"I'm not picking up anymore scents, that fourth demon was the last." He explained while sheathing his sword.

"Then I guess that's mission accomplished." The black haired woman said, also sheathing her weapon.

"Yes." The red haired teen nodded, before looking at Kazumi, who was currently on his knees after placing the other girl against the wall. "Just give me a moment, please." He walked towards him and kneeled. "Kazumi-san, are you alright?"

"…I've lost my fiancée." He answered, tears falling from his eyes despite the hollow tone he spoke in. "How can I be alright?"

"Kazumi-san." Tanjiro began softly. "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living. No matter how devastating the blows may be."

Gritting his teeth, the older male grabbed Tanjiro from his haori.

In the future, Kazumi would look at this interaction and feel nothing but shame but now...

"What do you know about it?!" Now, he can only think about venting, about letting out all the pain and frustrations he has bottled up and the only target he has is the red haired kid in front of him. "A kid like you?!"

Despite the screams, Tanjiro calmly placed both hands around the one that had grabbed his haori and offered a sympathetic smile.

'Ah, I want to cry.' He thought. 'I can relate too much.' But he reeled it in, this was not about him; he had time to mourn, he still misses them and he is not sure if he will ever stop feeling that way but he won't make this situation about himself.

In front of that look that seemed to say 'I know exactly what you're feeling' all the wind left Kazumi's sails as Tanjiro gently moved the hand around his haori away and let it fall.

"We'll be on our way now." He said, moving his left hand to a pocket inside his jacket and presenting the man a piece of cloth. "Take this."

Kazumi let out a gasp, recognizing the cloth from one of the demons.

"I hope you'll find something of Satoko-san in there."

Taking the offered cloth with trembling hands, Kazumi opened it to reveal the 'collection' of hairpins the demon had bragged about earlier. His eyes went straight to a red ribbon, not even truly registering the rest of the hairpins. He brought the hairpin closer to his face as the tears began to fall even harder than before.

Tanjiro bowed before turning around.

"Hey, Tanjiro." Ozaki called out, just loud enough for him to hear. "Catch." She said as she threw his box at him.

"Ah!" He quickly moved to grab it and to soften the landing as much as possible. "Please don't throw this box around like that." The swordsman said as he inspected the box before putting it on his back.

"Erm, sorry… is it really that important?"

"Yes, this box is more important to me than my life." Tanjiro answered immediately, his expression completely serious.

"…I apologize, I'll be more careful in the future." The black haired woman said.

The Kamado nodded with a smile.

"I'm sorry!" Kazumi suddenly yelled. "That was an awful thing to say! Please forgive me! I'm so sorry!"

"…thank you, I accept your apology." He assured him.

"We ended up staying up all night." Ozaki thought out loud, looking at the sun rising in the distance. 'So, the usual for Demon Slayers.' She shrugged before turning to Tanjiro. "Alright, it's time to go."

"Yes." He nodded and waved at Kazumi. "We're leaving that young woman in your hands!"

The words barely registered on the brown haired man's brain, his mind looking at the hand of the teen.

'Your hand is heartbreaking. How much would you have to train to get it like that? …that's not the hand a kid should have.'

Not waiting for an answer, the two swordsmen turned around and began to walk away.

"A-All right!" He yelled, assuring them that he will take care of the unconscious girl.

* * *

"Are you out of your freaking mind?!" Ozaki yelled once they were outside of the town.

"Eh?"

"Listen, I'm happy that things worked out but you don't just jump inside the enemy's technique without knowing what could happen; what if you couldn't move inside that place or something?!"

"I-I'm sorry but since they kept diving back while above ground I thought that fighting them there would be the best option." The Kamado defended. "And if that place didn't allow me to move then they shouldn't have been able to appear so fast."

"That's all well and good if you think logically; we were fighting a creature that can only be killed by being exposed to the sun or by beheading it with a special sword, normal logic means nothing!"

"I-I'm sorry…" He repeated, hanging his head.

"That being said… you did a good job." She said, making the teen look up. "I don't like that you were that reckless but I'm not about to deny that you handled yourself very well; if you told me that you've been on a hunt before I would have believed you."

"Thank you very much." Tanjiro said with a bow.

"Caw, caw." A crow was heard flying above the two and it flew down, landing on Tanjiro's shoulder. "Next, go to the west, another demon has been sighted. Meet with the other pair that went there and exterminate it together."

"Eh! We're already going in another mission?"

"Oh, yes, you are!" The crow answered.

"Hold on a minute."

"No waiting! Go now!"

"Do we always get missions one after the other like this?"

"Hehe." Ozaki let out a chuckle. "Welcome to the Demon Slayer Corps."

* * *

**And here is another one.**

**I wanted to get this earlier and hope to ask for some reviews (it was my birthday recently) but well, life got on the way; don't let that stop you from leaving a review as a birthday gift! Haha.**

**Ok, jokes aside.**

**First of all, congratulations to 'Guest' for guessing correctly, here are your virtual pancakes! I won't answer your question because I don't give spoilers for my own stories, I'm afraid you'll have to wait and see.**

**Quick note: it is never said what Breath Style Ozaki practices so I chose one of the main ones for her; I thought about which one to use for a while and, as you read, I went with Wind Breathing.**

**Well, now Tanjiro and Ozaki are going to meet with other Demon Slayers and, as you may or may not have noticed, I didn't say they're going to Asakusa.**

**From now on, I'm starting to _really_ diverge from the main story; there will still be some things that remain the same because there is no way for me to let them out (both because they are integral to the story and because I _don't want_ to leave them out) but I hope from now on, this will be a new experience and not just a copy and paste of the main story.**

**I think that's everything I wanted to say.**

**As always I hope you enjoyed!**

**Until next time.**


	8. A strange town

**A strange town**

**Guest answer review corner!**

**.**

**Guest: I'll do just that, thanks for the review!**

**Guest: Sorry, it's against my policy to give spoilers for my stories so you'll have to wait to get your answers.**

**I'll do my best to ensure the wait is worth it, though.**

**.**

**Disclaimer: The usual.**

* * *

On a certain town.

While not exactly common, it wasn't strange for some of the Pillars to get together every once in a while.

It was rarely done at anyone's home and they usually went to a tea house, restaurant or other such establishment when they happened to have free time.

Today was such an occasion.

"Sorry I'm late." Rengoku Kyojuro said as he walked inside the restaurant and spotted some of his fellow Pillars.

Sharing a table were Sabito along with Makomo sitting at his right and Giyu sitting at his left while Uzui, Mitsuri, Iguro and Shinobu were sitting on the opposite side.

The Flame Pillar took the empty seat besides Giyu as he greeted everyone with his signature smile.

"How have you all been? I hope I didn't make you wait!"

"It's fine Rengoku-san, we just got here a few minutes ago." Makomo assured him.

"Now that we're all here, though, we can order." Iguro chimed in as he signaled the waiter.

"Are you ready to order?"

Everyone told the employee what they would have in turns.

"Thank you very much, I'll bring your food shortly." With a bow, the waiter walked away from the table.

Soon, the table was filled with conversation… mostly from Rengoku, Makomo, Uzui and Mitsuri with Iguro, Sabito, and Shinobu chiming in every now and then while Giyu stayed silent unless directly addressed.

"By the way, what do you think of the new recruits?" Iguro asked. "Is it just me or are they getting weaker with every Final Selection? If they're not going to contribute then they shouldn't join to begin with."

"It's not like you can judge them by our standards; comparing a rookie to a pillar is unfair, don't you think?" Sabito argued.

"There is some truth to that but I also feel like Iguro, if they can't pull their weight then the rest of us are in trouble." Uzui added.

"Now, now, you haven't even met the new recruits." Shinobu chimed in. "At the very least, I can guarantee that Kanao is close to our level; why, she has already mastered Total Concentration Breathing, constant."

"Still, only one good recruit doesn't compensate for all the others." Rengoku said.

"How about two, then?" Sabito said, earning the others' attention.

"Eh, what do you mean?" Kanroji asked, tilting her head to the side.

"He's not quite at our level, or Kanao's for that matter, but Urokodaki-san trained a new student." The Water Pillar explained, taking a sip of his tea. "I've met him; I can assure you that he is promising."

"Seconded." Makomo chimed in with a smile.

"Oh, how did you meet him?" The Sound Pillar asked.

"Giyu met him on a mission and sent him to Urokodaki-san for training."

"Is that so, Tomioka-san?" Shinobu asked next.

"Yeah." He answered with a nod.

"So, what made you send him to your master?" Rengoku inquired.

"It's not an interesting story." The tsuguko answered with a flat tone. "Not an unusual one for Demon Slayers."

There was silence at the table as the others realized what he meant.

"If that's the case, then what makes you think he shows promise?" Iguro asked his fellow Pillar.

"Heh, you'll know if you meet him." Sabito left his answer that that.

"He has drive, that alone can get him far." Makomo added.

"Ara, ara, for you two to speak so highly of him, maybe Sabito-san is looking for a new tsuguko?" Shinobu said with a teasing smile.

"Of course not." The aforementioned answered. "Why would I do that?"

"I just thought you may like to have someone that isn't as… unexpressive… as Tomioka-san." She explained. "Not to mention someone that may be able to tell when he is being a third wheel."

"I'm not a third wheel." Giyu said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "If they ever want to be alone, all they have to do is ask."

"It's true; Giyu's presence has never bothered us." Makomo added. Sabito nodded in agreement.

"Hehe, don't worry, I was just joking."

"Haah…"

"Hmm? What's wrong Kanroji?" Iguro asked after she let out a sigh.

"I'm just jealous, I wish I could meet someone like Sabito-san." She answered with a blush.

"Thank you." The Water Pillar said with a nod in her direction.

"You're so lucky Makomo-chan!" The Love Pillar said in a squeal.

The black haired girl simply giggled in response.

And everyone made it a point to ignore Iguro's glare directed at the Water Pillar.

"So, do you know who is supervising Tsuyuri on her first few missions?" Rengoku asked.

"Oh, she won't be participating on that." Shinobu answered. "Kanao has been slaying demons since before the Final Selection, I can personally vouch for her skills; I talked to Oyakata-sama and explained that there is no need for her to go with that… I believe calling it a 'trial period' would be a good way of putting it."

"You do remember that there is another objective to pairing up with other Demon Slayers, it's so she can gain experience in fighting with other people." Giyu mentioned.

"Yes, but if Pillars don't need to do that and she is the closest to Pillar level, except for maybe you and Makomo-san, I believe she would perform better if fighting alone."

Several eyes were narrowed at her for that statement, sensing that there was something hidden behind the Insect Pillar's words but she took all the stares in stride, her smile never wavering.

* * *

Elsewhere.

"Wait." Ozaki exclaimed. "So you're telling me that we should be trying to maintain Total Concentration Breathing at all times?"

"Yes, apparently there is a great difference between being able to do it and not." Tanjiro answered.

The two had been walking to their next destination when the Kamado suddenly fell to the ground; her senior was obviously worried that he might have gotten injured during their previous fight but he assured her that he was just training to maintain Total Concentration Breathing.

She gave a deadpan look at this so he explained how, apparently, being able to use Total Concentration Breathing at all times will make you several times stronger.

"I still can't do it, though; I barely managed to maintain it for around six hours one day, and it was because I just meditated without moving around. The most I've managed while moving is two hours, after that I need a rest or I will collapse."

"Huh…" The black haired woman trailed off. "Well, I guess it can't hurt to try." She said before beginning to use Total Concentration Breathing.

"Just try not to use it once we get into town, the last thing we want is to collapse while searching for the demon or while fighting."

She nodded her agreement and the two continued to walk while maintaining Total Concentration Breathing.

.

"Gah!" Around twenty minutes later, Ozaki collapsed on the floor. 'What the hell?! Is it really this hard?!' She questioned as she felt her hearth beating rapidly and her ears buzzing.

"Are you alright?" Tanjiro asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah." She answered, taking a few moments to calm down before standing up again. "This is a _lot_ more difficult than I first thought."

"Yes, the first time I tried I felt as if my hearth was about to burst out of my ears." The red haired teen said. "Still, if being able to do this will make us stronger then we should keep trying."

"Agreed." Ozaki said. "Well, we still have some time until we reach the town; let's see how long we can manage to maintain it."

"Yes!"

* * *

Unsurprisingly, Tanjiro managed to maintain Total Concentration Breathing for longer since he has been training for it, he still had to take a break about half-way to the town, though. Ozaki kept collapsing every few minutes, in the end she managed to maintain it for half an hour before deciding to give it a rest for now or they will not reach the town today.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and they soon reached their destination.

The town was more or less the same as the previous one, the only difference being that there was a forest almost surrounding the town and no bridge at the entrance.

"Well, first off, we need to find the other Demon Slayers." Ozaki said. "If they're not at the entrance, then maybe they're collecting intel by asking around."

"Should we split up to cover more ground?"

"No, we shouldn't delay our meeting; for now, let's walk around town, if we ask people around some questions they may mention other people that have been asking the same."

"Yes!"

With that, the two began to walk around the place.

"By the way, Ozaki-san, isn't the place too quiet for this time of day?" Tanjiro asked as he sniffed the air. "There is the scent of fear in the air, too."

"That's-wait." She did a double take. "You can smell fear?"

"Yes, it's a rather easy scent to pick up on." He answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"…are you sure your nose isn't supernatural or something?"

"I just have a really good nose." Tanjiro said, completely serious. "I can smell a tinge of fear coming from you as well, is something wrong?" He added with a frown.

"No, it's not fear per se just… the feeling you get when seeing something incomprehensible." The Tsuchinoto answered before shaking her head. "In any case, let's start asking around."

The Kamado nodded.

Their first destination was a hotel near the entrance of town.

"W-welcome." A woman in her thirties with black hair and a plain brown kimono said, her tone clearly nervous. "Do you need a room?"

"No, thank you, we would like to ask you a few questions if that's alright." Tanjiro answered her.

"Wh-what kind of questions?" She asked.

"Have there been any strange disappearances lately?" The red haired teen asked directly.

The woman visibly flinched at this.

"S-strange disappearances, you say? I-I don't know anything about that."

"Is something wrong?" Tanjiro asked worriedly. "You seem afraid of something."

"The-there is nothing wrong!" The woman practically yelled before turning around. "If you're not going to rent a room then leave, this is a business!"

"…very well." The Kamado conceded. "Could you answer this before we leave, please, have you seen other people wearing uniforms like ours around?" He moved his haori to give her a better look of his clothes.

The woman glanced at them from the corner of her eye, looking at the uniforms and then turned her back to them again.

"…two men, they came here a few hours ago, asked some questions and left; I don't know where they are now."

"Thank you." Tanjiro and Ozaki bowed and the two left, closing the door on their way out. "Something is strange."

"I don't need your sense of smell to tell that." The black haired woman nodded. "Let's ask around a bit more while looking for the other two, chances are we will bump into each other."

.

The two Demon Slayers spent around an hour walking around town while asking the people they encountered.

Said people consisted entirely of the ones running business or a few that were inside said business, if it wasn't for those the town would look completely deserted.

But no matter where they asked, everyone gave similar responses to the lady from the hotel, saying they don't know anything about the disappearances and telling them to leave if they're not going to buy something.

"What is wrong with this town?" Ozaki thought out loud as they left a ramen restaurant.

"All of them seem afraid of something and refuse to give us any answers." Tanjiro added with a frown.

"Have you picked up any demon scents?"

"No, but…" The Kamado trailed off with a complicated expression.

"What's wrong?"

"There is a strange smell I pick up every once in a while… but I'm not sure if it's related to the demon."

"What's the smell?"

"I... am not sure."

"Ah, you two!" The two turned around. "You're the other team that was sent here, right?"

Having just walked around the corner there was a man with black eyes, straight jet-black hair parted down the middle and wearing the Demon Slayers uniform with a katana at his hip.

"That's right." The two answered in unison.

"My name is Kamado Tanjiro, rank Mizunoto, nice to meet you." Tanjiro said, giving a respectful bow.

"I'm Ozaki, my rank is Tsuchinoto." Ozaki said next with a nod.

"Ah, I'm Murata, my rank is Kanoe." He said, reciprocating the gesture. "Sorry for not meeting at the entrance we… let's just say that we decided it would be better to begin investigating as soon as possible."

The other two exchanged a glance at his choice of words but nodded nonetheless.

"Where is your partner?" Ozaki asked, looking around.

"We split up to cover more ground after agreeing on a meeting place, I was just going there when I saw you two."

"Well, lead the way."

Murata nodded and the three began to walk.

"Have you found out anything?" Tanjiro asked.

"Not really, the townsfolk are… they're not cooperating, every time I ask about the disappearances they just get nervous and tell me they don't know anything and to leave."

"That's been the case for us as well." Ozaki chimed in.

"It's strange, I'm used to some people not wanting to answer questions to a stranger but I think this is the first time _everyone_ shuts me out like this." Murata added.

"They seem to be afraid of something, have you seen anything strange Murata-san?"

The black haired man blinked a few times at him.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, just… I forgot what it was like to be respected by your juniors." Murata answered earning a confused look from the other Demon Slayers. "A-anyway, aside from the people's behavior, the strangest thing is that… well, just look around." He gestured at the streets. "At this time of the day, a lot of people should be walking around but we're the only ones on the streets."

"We noticed that too." The Kamado nodded. "Do you think it's related to how everyone seems afraid?"

"I'd say there is a good chance that it is." Murata answered. "The meeting place is just around the corner; let's see if he had a better time asking around."

Tanjiro and Ozaki nodded.

As they walked around the corner they arrived at what looked like the town square, 'looked like' because, with the lack of people around, it seemed to be just a larger road with a few benches around.

In one of the benches there was a man, wearing the Demon Slayer uniform in a dark olive-green color with a purple yukata on top; his hair was black and worn in a Mohawk style with some strands around his neck and a scar going from the bridge of his nose, under his eye, to his right cheek.

'Oh, he was in the Final Selection with me.' Tanjiro thought before frowning. 'He is the one that hurt that girl.' Mentally shaking his head, he decided to let that go, there was no point in holding a grudge over it, even less so considering they will be working together.

"Ah, you!" The teen with the purple yukata didn't seem to share the sentiment as he got up immediately after seeing him and practically jumped in front of his face.

'Wow, he got taller.' Tanjiro noted, remembering how they were more or less the same height back in the Final Selection and now he had to look up a bit to look him in the eye. 'Growth spurts are amazing!' He added in his mind, not the least bit deterred by the glare he was receiving.

"It's nice to see you again, I hope we can work together." Tanjiro said with a smile. "I didn't get to introduce myself during the Final Selection, I'm Kamado Tanjiro, let's do our best."

"…are you kidding me?!" The teen asked, still glaring. "You broke my freaking arm!" He yelled, pointing at the arm Tanjiro had broken back then.

"You were hurting that girl and I warned you beforehand, it was your fault." The red haired teen said with a tone that sounded as if he was lecturing a kid about what's right and what's wrong. "And it's healed now so can we both agree that it's water under the bridge?"

"As if!" The teen with the Mohawk raised a fist-

"Enough!" Only to stop when Ozaki raised her voice. "I don't know what your problem is, and I won't ask you to resolve it right now, but until the mission is over you two will behave yourselves, is that clear?"

"Yes!" Tanjiro answered immediately.

"…I said, is that clear?" The woman repeated with narrowed eyes towards the other Mizunoto.

"…tch, fine." He finally answered.

"Good, now, I believe you haven't introduced yourself yet."

"Shinazugawa Genya." Genya said simply before turning around and sitting down on the bench again.

"I-In any case, let's all share what we learned." Murata offered to try and dissipate the tension and the four walked near Genya to exchange information.

.

.

"So, long story short, we don't know anything." Ozaki surmised.

"Everyone I asked just kept saying they don't know anything and if I tried to push they would either force me to leave or run away." Genya said, his glare still present.

"That was more or less the same for us." Tanjiro chimed in with a frown.

"So we don't have any clues?" Murata asked dejectedly. "At this rate we can only wait for the night and hope to catch the demon in the act."

"True, it helps that this is a small town; with the four of us, there shouldn't be any problems patrolling it." Ozaki nodded, before looking at her red haired junior and grinning. "So I guess we'll do that if you can't pick up anything."

"Hmm?" Murata and Genya raised an eyebrow at that statement.

"Yes!" While Tanjiro nodded, turned around and kneeled on the ground with his face near it.

"Hmm… what is he doing?" Murata asked, pointing at him and looking at the only woman among them.

"He is sniffing out the demon." She answered as if it was obvious.

"…come again?" Genya asked, looking between the red haired teen and his senior.

"I know, it sounds ridiculous, but his sense of smell is good enough to pick the scents of demons; I saw it first-hand during our previous mission." The black haired woman explained.

The other two blinked a few times.

"…I guess I'll believe it when I see it." Murata said with a shrug while Genya looked away, dismissing the conversation.

'No sign of the demon but…' Tanjiro closed his eyes to focus on his nose. '…what is this scent?' He frowned as he picked up the remnants of that strange smell he mentioned before. 'It's not the scent of a demon but it's also not the scent of a human, an animal maybe? No, it's not an animal.' He continued trying to identify it for a few minutes but there was no luck.

"I'm going to walk around to try and pick up any scents." The Kamado informed, getting back on his feet.

"Alright, I'll go with you; you two try again to find out anything, even if the townsfolk aren't talking there might be some clues around." Ozaki said.

"Sounds like a plan." Murata nodded.

Genya scowled but didn't object.

"We'll meet here again before nightfall, good luck."

With their plan set, the two teams separated to continue their investigation.

.

.

'What did I do to deserve this?' Murata whined to himself as he and Genya walked around town.

When he was first told about this new squad system that would be implemented and that he will be assessing one of his juniors he was, reasonably, nervous but decided that he will give it his best shot at teaching the ropes to his junior.

That plan went out the window almost the second he met with one Shinazugawa Genya.

It wasn't the seemingly permanent scowl or his, admittedly, scary appearance; he could deal with those.

The real issue was the Mizunoto's complete and utter dismissal of anything he said; outside of introducing himself, Genya barely talked with him simply doing things at his own pace despite the words from his senior.

He won't argue with the results, their previous mission proved that he was capable of fighting and seemed to have a high tolerance to pain, considering the wounds he saw him get that Murata thought would be enough to cripple most people, but his method of gathering info was… too forceful, in his opinion.

Even now, he is _demanding_ answers, not asking, while the townsfolk keep refusing to give him the time of day.

'That tells us something, though.' Murata thought. 'Whatever has them so scared is even scarier than Shinazugawa-kun.' He frowned and put a hand in his chin. 'But if it was a demon, then why wouldn't they say something, unless…'

"Damn it!" His train of thought was halted when his junior stormed out of a restaurant, closing the door with a lot more force than necessary. "What the hell is wrong with these people?!"

"N-now, now, something has them scared-"

"If a demon is scaring them then why not say so?! We're here to hunt it, damn it!"

The Kanoe flinched at his tone but couldn't find a way to argue.

"E-excuse me." A new voice called out, making the two turn to it. "D-did you say you're here to kill th-the demon?" A little girl, no older than ten with messy black hair and similarly colored eyes asked.

"Th-that's right! Do you know anything?" Murata answered, giving her his best reassuring smile.

The girl looked to both sides as if checking if someone was watching them before motioning the two to follow her and begin to walk away.

Genya and Murata soon did as told, not about to waste the first chance they got at getting some information.

"Excuse me, could you tell us about the-"

"Not here!" The girl interrupted Murata, turning around with a panicked expression that turned fearful a moment later as she once again checked her surroundings. "S-sorry for yelling b-but please wait, I'll a-answer your questions when we get there."

Murata glanced at his junior, worried that he may demand some answers regardless.

"Fine." But he agreed without a problem, even his permanent scowl seemed to lessen. "Can you at least tell us where we're going?"

"J-just follow me, please." The girl requested as she turned back and began to walk again.

The two Demon Slayers quickly followed her.

.

.

In another part of town.

Ozaki was glad that the town was so deserted since it meant that having Tanjiro kneel on the ground to sniff around wouldn't attract any attention.

So far, though, the red haired teen's nose didn't come up with anything, just faint traces of that smell he categorized as 'strange' and nothing else noteworthy.

However, while they haven't gotten any closer to finding the demon, the two could feel several stares fixated on them coming from the surrounding buildings.

They didn't seem hostile, so far at least, but it's something to keep in mind.

"Anything?" Ozaki asked.

"No, not even the strange scent I pick up in certain areas." Tanjiro answered as he got back on his feet. "At this rate, we will have no choice but to wait until nightfall and hope that the demon shows up."

"Well, that's the usual for Demon Slayers, don't let it get to you."

"Yeah, I guess you're-" The Kamado stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening and turning his head to the left.

"Excuse me, you said something about a demon?" A man in his thirties with short black hair and a dark blue kimono asked as he walked out from the alley Tanjiro had suddenly turned to look at.

"That's right, do you-"

"Ozaki-san, on guard." Tanjiro said, moving one hand to his nichirin blade.

The senior frowned but did the same.

"I-Is something wrong? Why are you putting your hands in your swords? I mean you no harm." The man asked, raising his hands in a pleading gesture.

"Your scent is wrong."

"…I beg your pardon?"

"You smell mostly like a human but there is something else mixed in and although you act scared and say that you mean no harm, your scent says the exact opposite." The red haired teen explained. "Who are you?"

The man dropped his hands, his somewhat meek expression replaced by a completely neutral one.

From the alleyway, two more men walked up with the same expression, one with long black hair tied in a ponytail while the other had a buzz cut; the two had a knife on their hands.

"Oh well, guess we'll just have to kill you here then." The first man said in deadpan.

A moment later, the three rushed the Demon Slayers.

Ozaki side-stepped a stab from the man with the buzz cut while the first one tried to tackle her, she quickly spun around and moved behind him before jumping back to gain some distance.

'What the hell is going on?' She wondered as she continued to avoid her two attackers. 'They can't be demons, the sun is still up.' The black haired woman side-stepped another slash before hitting the man in his neck with the edge of her hand to knock him unconscious.

He let out a groan but continued his attacks.

'Was I too soft?' She wondered as she dodged a new flurry of attacks and try again but got the same result.

She wasn't particularly worried, though.

These guys may have knives and want to kill them for some reason but they weren't showing any sort of increased speed or strength, at least not to the level a demon reaches. Unless she gets careless they would never be able to lay a hand on her.

While she was doing this, Tanjiro was moving around the attacks from the ponytail guy that, much like his companion, tried to slash or stab at him with little success.

Having had enough, the next time he tried to stab him Tanjiro moved to the left using one hand to grab the man's wrist and another to lock his elbow in place, then spun around forcing the man to come with him, sweeping his legs from under him with his own and threw him to the ground, his arms still on the man's arm so that he wouldn't get up.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

There was no response, the man simply tried to get up and continue to attack.

Noticing that the other two were preoccupied with his partner, Tanjiro focused on his nose to try and identify the strange scent he has been picking up.

'They are definitely humans, the fact that they are under the sun proves that but… what's this? There is something else.' He closed his eyes and took another sniff. 'Go further, this scent is coming from his body, ignore all the others and focus on identifying it.' It took the red haired teen another ten seconds until he was able to grasp that scent, his eyes snapped open the moment he realized what it was. 'A demon's scent! It was mixed with something else so I couldn't pick it up at first but this is definitely a demon's scent!' He went further and tried to pinpoint the origin of it from the man's body. 'It's coming from… there!' His red eyes focused on a spot on the man's right shoulder.

Wordlessly, he took the knife from the man's hands and put his leg on top of the arm to continue pining him in place before taking the knife and make a cut on his shoulder; nothing that wouldn't heal or would cause anything but a sting but deep enough to reach the source of the scent.

A second later the inside of the wound seemed to catch on fire making the man let out a scream, as soon as it stopped he fell unconscious.

Tanjiro quickly checked his pulse to make sure he was still alive and then let go of the man, now that he once again smelled completely human, before he ran towards the buzz cut guy attacking Ozaki and pinned him to the ground.

"Please keep the other guy off of me!" He yelled as he repeated the process of trying to find the place where the strange scent came from, this time it was the left shoulder and he made a slash on the skin as the inside caught on fire and the man let out a scream before falling unconscious.

Once he was sure the man smelled completely like a human, he ran to the last man and tackled him to the ground.

"Let go of me, you brat!" He said as he struggled to get up.

The Kamado ignored him and began the process again, ready to cut at wherever the scent was coming from.

But stopped himself, unlike the other two the scent was the strongest on the man's neck, meaning that he couldn't cut him without risking killing him from blood loss.

Clicking his tongue, the red haired teen asked the other Demon Slayer to find some rope to tie him up. Asking the people around them would be useless so she settled for grabbing some from a nearby unfinished construction; after what just happened she didn't want to ask where the workers had gone to.

Once they made sure he was tied up, Tanjiro propped him against a wall and kneeled to be at eye level with him.

"You're wasting your time, I'm not saying anything." The man spoke with a snarl.

"I know, whatever is controlling you isn't letting you." The Kamado answered calmly before smiling. "Please don't worry, we will make sure to free you and any others that may be under the demon's influence."

With that, he got up and began to walk away with Ozaki following him.

"Hah! You're wasting your time! There is no way for you two to do anything!" The man yelled mockingly after them, even as tears fell from his eyes.

"Do you have anything?" Ozaki asked.

"I couldn't pick it up at first, I'm not sure how but that demon was masking its smell." He answered before sniffing the air. "But I have its scent now, it's not getting away."

For a moment, the Tsuchinoto couldn't help but compare her junior to a hunting dog but quickly dismissed the thought for later; they still have a job to do.

"Lead the way."

"Yes!"

Without more words, the two began to run towards their enemy.

They still had about half an hour of daylight left but Tanjiro and Ozaki were forced to stop on their tracks.

"This is definitely the right way." Tanjiro whispered after giving another sniff. "But we have a problem."

"Yeah, those guys are not going to let us pass." Ozaki whispered back.

The two were hidden behind some foliage to avoid being detected by the humans patrolling the forest.

"They must be being controlled like those guys in the town." The black haired woman added.

"This could be a problem." The Kamado thought out loud. "They weren't that strong, a demon definitely beats them, but there are a lot of them and we can't kill them. Should we regroup with Murata-san and Genya?"

Just as he finished that sentence his nose picked up two familiar scents and he turned in its direction.

Moving through the foliage were the other two Demon Slayers as well as a girl that seemed to be acting as their guide.

"It seems they managed to find their way, now we can-"

"Oh no, WATCH OUT!" The Kamado yelled, interrupting his senior's words as he rushed towards them, not caring that he was seen by the patrols.

Murata and Genya were startled at hearing his voice and turned to look at him.

Just to realize what he was warning them about a moment later and turn towards the sound of a knife cutting through air.

* * *

**Cliffhanger!**

**Yeah, I like my cliffhangers.**

**Anyway, next chapter should see this mission finished and as you can see there was an early appearance from Genya!**

**Don't worry, though, the main trio will still appear and have their moments (I like them too much to not do that) but, like I said on the previous chapter, I'm beginning to really divert from canon and this is just the beginning of that.**

**As always, I hope you enjoyed.**

**Until next time!**

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**PS: SPOILER ALERT IF YOU'RE NOT UP TO DATE WITH THE MANGA, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

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**I'll repeat what I said when I saw the spoilers for chapter 184: WHAT IN THE EVER LOVING FUCK?!**

**If you want to talk about it please PM me and keep the spoilers to a minimum on the comments, or at least give a warning first.**

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**Spoiler ends.**


	9. Two anomalies

**Two anomalies**

**Guest reviews answer section.**

**.**

**Guest: I do aim to catch my readers off guard, like two chapters ago when everyone thought Murata would be the one supervising Tanjiro and then Ozaki appeared.**

**I still like to think that showing Sabito alive at the end of chapter one was my best surprise though, haha.**

**Thank you for the praise, it is always nice to hear some and don't get ahead of yourself, there is still a _lot_ of history left, the number of chapters hasn't even reached the double digits yet.**

**I'll do my best to exceed expectations… can't promise success but I will give it my all!**

**.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba, if I did there would be more Tanjiro and Kanao moments.**

**Also Giyu and Shinobu moments.**

**And Obanai and Mitsuri moments.**

**And… I better stop now or we'll be here all day, on with the chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!" Shinazugawa Genya continued to repeat those words as he runs through the forest.

"They're still chasing us." Murata said, keeping pace right behind him.

"For now just keep running, we'll use the trees to lose them." Ozaki added. 'Tch, things really took a turn for the worse.'

* * *

About ten minutes earlier.

"WATCH OUT!"

Tanjiro's warning came just a moment before a knife began to cut through the air, aiming at the girl that was guiding Genya and Murata.

The former quickly dove towards her, pushing her out of the way, the knife hitting his hand instead of her.

"Intruders! Get them!" A voice yelled from the direction the knife was thrown before every person around began to move towards them.

"Are you alright?" Tanjiro asked, having moved towards their position. "We need to go." With that, he grabbed the girl and they began to retreat.

"What the fuck is going on?! Why are those people attacking us?!" Genya yelled as he pulled out the knife and threw it in the ground.

"They are being controlled by the demon!" Ozaki answered before drawing her sword and deflecting a few more knives thrown in their direction. "We were attacked in town by some people that were controlled."

"That must be its Blood Demon Art." Murata chimed in.

"Then what are we supposed to do if they are going to get in the way between us and the demon?!" The black haired Mizunoto yelled.

"We can think of something after we lose them, just run for now." Tanjiro answered.

* * *

After nightfall, the Demon Slayers finally managed to lose their pursuers; even if controlled, they were still humans, they could barely keep up with them in the forest during the day, the moment nightfall came, there was no way for the controlled humans to keep track of them.

"We lost them." Tanjiro assured the others after sniffing the air to make sure no one was around.

"Damn it!" Genya yelled, punching a nearby tree. "How are we supposed to get to the demon if he has humans acting as shields?"

"That's what we have to figure out now." Ozaki answered him before turning towards the red haired teen. "I take it she is not being controlled?" She looked at the girl still on his arms.

"She is fine." He answered before gently setting her down. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes, thank you." She turned towards Genya. "And thank you for protecting me, is your hand okay?"

"Just a scratch." He answered with a shrug as he took a cloth from his pocket and tied it tightly around the wound.

"Can you tell us your name? You didn't introduce yourself earlier." Murata asked calmly.

"I-It's Kei." She said.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Murata; these are Ozaki-san, Tanjiro-kun and Genya-kun." He said, gesturing to each of his companions when he said their names. "You said you would tell us what you knew when we reached that place but after what happened… could you tell us now?"

"…y-yes." Kei nodded. "It started around… two months ago, I think? Some people from town began to disappear during the night then a week later they appeared again during the night along with… with…" The little girl hugged herself as she began to tremble.

"With the demon?" Genya asked.

She nodded as she took deep breaths to calm down.

"The d-demon said that our town was now his, some of the adults protested of course but…" She looked down as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything else about that." Tanjiro told her softly, having kneeled to be at eye level and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Do you know where the demon is now?"

"Y-yes, when… when my parents were taken I followed them in secret, there weren't as many people patrolling before and I used to play in the forest with my friends so I managed to sneak around until I saw the d-demon's hideout."

"Why couldn't you have told us that before?"

"…some of the people in town are being controlled, I don't know who is and I didn't want to risk them hearing us and..." She trailed off, averting her gaze. "Other people came to town once saying they're here because of the d-demon but…" She began to sob and used her hands to try and wipe away the tears. "…i-it was a lie, th-they were also being controlled a-and when my brother tried to tell them they took h-him and everyone else around, saying they had to make an e-example of them… I haven't seen them since."

The four Demon Slayers grimaced for a moment before focusing again.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about the demon?"

"I-It's male and wears what looks like priest robes and has a bald head."

"Thank you, you have helped us a lot." The Kamado said with a small smile.

"We should get her back to town, then we-"

"Guys." Murata interrupted Ozaki. "Isn't that in the direction of the town?" He asked, pointing towards the sky where smoke was rising.

"Son of a bitch!" Genya yelled, arriving at the same conclusion as everyone else.

The town was being attacked.

* * *

It took them less than ten minutes to make their way back to town, having sprinted as fast as possible through the forest with Tanjiro once again carrying Kei.

It was a horrible sight.

Buildings were being burned left and right, and the controlled people were attacking the others or trapping them inside the buildings so that they would burn to death.

"That bastard!" Genya howled, jumping into the fray to stop this massacre.

Ozaki and Murata quickly did the same.

"Stay here, we'll be back!" Tanjiro said, letting Kei down near a tree outside of town so she could hide.

"Y-yes." She answered shakily; the Kamado didn't even need to use his nose to tell that she was terrified.

"Here." So, in an attempt to reassure her at least a bit, he took his fox mask from the side of his head and placed her on her head. "It's a warding mask my master gave me, it has a protection spell casted on it, I'll come back to get it after everything's over so take care of it for me, alright?"

"…thank you."

He gave her a nod before quickly rushing towards the battle.

.

.

Genya tackled a man about to bring down a knife on another one to the ground, forcing the weapon out of his hands before jumping back to avoid a woman with another knife trying to hit him.

'Shit!'

Ozaki quickly rushed forward and disarmed the woman before throwing her to the ground with enough force to knock her out.

Or at least, to knock out a normal person, after groaning the woman got up and tried to attack them again.

Murata moved towards one of the houses on fire and quickly but down the barricade in place to keep people trapped inside and opened the door.

"Quick, get out!" He yelled as people began to exit the place coughing.

"Murata-san!" Tanjiro called out, dodging a hit from a man with a club and knocking him to the ground. "We won't be able to keep up at this rate, we can't kill the people being controlled and they don't get knocked out!"

"I know, but what else are we supposed to do?!" He answered even as he moved to another building.

"We find that demon and kill it!" Genya yelled, roughly throwing a man to the ground.

"It doesn't look like we have much choice; Tanjiro!" Ozaki called out. "You're the only one that can track that demon so you'll be the guide, we will-" She was interrupted when ten people moved to stand between her and her junior. "Shit, they're not going to let me pass."

"I'll take Genya and kill the demon!" The Kamado yelled, dodging another attack and taking the weapon from his attacker away. "Murata-san has already moved on to the next building, we're the closest to the exit!"

"Alright! Make sure to bring it down, we'll handle things here!"

"Yes!" He nodded, throwing off another controlled human that was trying to attack Genya from behind. "Come on, we're going to hunt that demon down!"

"You just tell me where he is so I can cut off its head!" The other Mizunoto answered as the two left the town with Tanjiro leading the way.

"…alright." Ozaki took a deep breath and unsheathed her blade, then turned it backwards to use the dull side to hit. "I apologize in advance if I break any bones."

Without any words, the ten controlled humans rushed against her.

* * *

"Here." Tanjiro said after sniffing the air to catch the demon's scent and turning to the left. "We're almost there." They were making good time, partly thanks to the fact they already walked a good part of the way before.

"Once we get there, you just make sure to stay out of the way so I can cut off its head." Genya said with a scowl.

"No, we will fight it together." He answered without missing a beat.

"Huh? I just told you I'll handle it!"

"If we fight together then we'll be able to defeat it faster." The Kamado argued.

"Why you-"

"Shh, stop." The Water Breathing practitioner whispered, stopping on his tracks and crouching between some foliage.

Genya quickly did the same.

"There are some people there." Four men were standing guard with makeshift spears outside of what looked like a haphazardly made temple in a clearing of the forest.

It had an uneven curved roof, with the right side protruding further than the left, the columns holding it were spread around unevenly and the walls were an amalgamation of poorly cut wood and vines that looked like could be broken if one were to apply enough force.

"I can smell the demon inside." Tanjiro said. "I'll draw the guards' attention so you can get inside and kill it."

"I… alright?" Genya said in a questioning tone. "I thought you wanted to kill it."

"I wanted us to fight together so we could finish the fight faster but with the guards there, it's better if one of us distracts them while the other goes inside." He explained, before turning his head towards him. "You said you wanted to cut off that demon's head, I'll make sure they don't bother you so go ahead and defeat it."

"…" The black haired teen blinked twice before nodding. 'So he actually meant it when he said for us to fight together? He doesn't care who gets the last hit?'

"I'll go get their attention, get ready to move." With that, the red haired teen rushed out of the foliage and towards the guards.

The controlled humans immediately noticed his presence and prepared their weapons to receive him.

'They're not rushing at me, are they trying to stay near the temple?' He wondered as he began to analyze the situation.

He ducked under one of the guards' thrust and changed the grip on his sword to hit with the flat side before making contact with the person's stomach and spin around to throw him away.

A second guard tried to bring his weapon down on him but he took a page from Sabito's book and dodged to the side to then hit him with an upwards slash on his chin, then kicked him away while he was still in mid-air, knowing that they couldn't be knocked out of the fight.

The third and fourth guards tried to hit him at the same time but Tanjiro blocked both their spears with his sword and pushed back against them forcing them away until they were near the first one he sent flying.

The second guard got up and quickly ran towards his companions as the Kamado continued to dodge, block and parry every attack aimed his way.

'Tch, the guy is good.' Genya admitted with some bitterness. 'If only I could…' He shook his head to stop that train of thought. 'No time for that, move!'

Making sure that the guards were all busy with Tanjiro, he quickly ran towards the temple, his sword drawn, and kicked down the door.

"Oh, how may I help you?" A man wearing priest robes with a bald head asked, his eyes seeming to be close as Genya couldn't look at their color and was about half a head taller than the black haired Demon Slayer.

"So you're the demon." He thought out loud. "I'm gonna chop your head off!" The Demon Slayer yelled.

Genya lunged against the priest who moved his hands in a prayer before extending the right one forward.

'Wh-' A second later, Genya felt like a wall had just being thrown against him and was sent flying out of the temple, bouncing off the ground a few times before his impulse died down and he skidded to a halt.

"Genya!" Tanjiro called out in worry as he kept dodging the guards' attacks.

"Now, now, there is no need for such violence." The demon said as he walks out of the structure. "We could have just talked things out."

'This scent… he has eaten a lot of people.' The Kamado realized. 'But it's strange, there is something-'

"I see that the devout followers are keeping you at bay as they should, good." The demon said with a nod, moving his hands in prayer. "Now, make sure he stays in that area."

The red haired teen immediately realized that something was wrong and kicked or pushed the guards away from him just as the priest brought his hands forward.

Tanjiro barely had time to brace himself, crossing his arms as he felt something akin to a wall slamming against him forcing him back while leaving marks on the soil below him.

'I was barely able to keep my footing.' Tanjiro thought, stabilizing his posture. 'That was his Blood Art without a doubt, I'm not sure if that praying posture is necessary for it so I shouldn't rush recklessly.'

The priest was already preparing to attack again by the time the Kamado finished that analysis.

'Move!' He quickly jumped to the side to avoid the attack, and almost did, but he got hit on the left leg just before he was out of the apparent range of the wall sending him tumbling back.

The Kamado quickly regained his footing, just in time to parry one of the guards' spears and then kick him away as he braced himself once again and received the attack from the priest demon, leaving another set of marks on the ground.

'It's not a weak attack but it doesn't seem like a particularly strong one, either.' The red haired teen kicked the ground with his left leg a few times. 'Nothing's broken, there's enough force to drive me back but not enough to actually break anything as long as I see it coming.' He quickly glanced at his fallen companion. 'Good, Genya's getting up; he must have gotten hit by surprise with this Demon's Blood Art, if we rush him together-'

"That won't do." This time, the demon moved his hand down and the same wall from before hit Genya from above, leaving the imprint of a hand on the ground around him.

"Genya!" Tanjiro called out in worry.

"You should pay more attention to yourself." The priest said his hands already in prayer before he moved the left one to his right side.

The Kamado quickly put up his guard, covering his right side as the 'wall' hit him; he didn't try to fight the force and instead received it, jumping in the same direction to soften the impact and rolling on the ground twice before getting back up.

The guards quickly moved to rush him and finish the job or at least keep him in place.

'I need to close the distance.' Bending his knees slightly, he dashed between the controlled humans and moved straight for the demon.

He already had his hands in prayer and began to move his left hand forward making the Demon Slayer stop his dash and brace himself as the 'wall' hit him.

'There! That part and that part aren't moving, that's his range.' The red haired teen thought as he looked to his left and right while the attack was pushing him back, noticing that the grass wasn't moving past a certain point.

The moment the attack ceased, Tanjiro dashed forwards again, not giving the controlled humans time to try anything.

The priest demon scowled before once again bringing his hands into a prayer position and then moved the right one forward.

Tanjiro was already moving to the side before he even fully extended his arm and managed to dodge the attack and continue forward.

"Tch." The demon clicked his tongue as he began a new attack, this time moving his left hand to his right side.

'From my right!' The Kamado increased his speed to avoid the hit, now that he knew the range of the attack he could calculate how far he needed to move to avoid it.

A cold sweat began to form on the demon's face as he tried again, this time from above but once again, Tanjiro managed to slip past the attack.

"You brat." The demon moved his hands back into a praying stance and then moved both hands forward.

'Two attacks are coming but that imprint from when he attacked Genya tells me that they're hand shaped, they follow the movement of his hands, then…' Instead of bracing himself to take the hit, the Demon Slayer continued forward moving right in front of the two thumbs and then jumping, passing the over the attack.

"Wha-?!"

'I'm in range, Total Concentration! Water Breathing!' He prepared to unleash a technique and sever the demon's head-

He suddenly jumped backwards, barely avoiding a figure that shot from the foliage nearby, aiming at his neck.

"You're taking too long, are these pests giving you that much trouble?" A new voice, coming from the makeshift temple, asked.

"My apologies, Miko-sama." The priest answered with a bow.

"Well, whatever, I'll have this guy give you a hand." 'Miko' answered.

Miko is a female demon with long black hair tied in a tall ponytail, using a black hair ribbon, which makes her hair reach around her lower back and is wearing, as the name implies, miko robes although the colors were changed.

Instead of a red hakama, hers was a dark blue and the kimono top that would usually be white was completely black. Her pupils are a sickly yellow with the sclera being completely red and she is about the same height as Genya.

The 'guy' that she mentioned is a demon… with nothing noteworthy about him.

He has a bald head like the priest and is wearing a simple brown shirt and pants; other than that, he has the same characteristics as other demons Tanjiro has encountered, pale skin and a single horn protruding from the left side of his head with razor sharp fangs and claws.

'Various demons teaming up.' The Kamado thought, never having dropped his guard. 'This shouldn't happen, that demon from the last mission was just one that divided itself, that's why their scents were all the same but this three… their scents have some similarities but are completely different demons... and I can still smell one more hiding.'

Before he could think on this further, the 'normal' demon lunged at him.

Tanjiro quickly side-stepped to the side and tried to bring his sword down on his neck but the priest demon used his Blood Demon Art to cover his ally, sending the human flying backwards.

Right towards the controlled humans that were acting as bodyguards.

Spinning in mid-air to avoid the first thrust of a spear, he landed on his left leg and immediately put some distance between them and himself.

"Hmm, bring that one alive, he should be a good follower after I deal with him." Miko ordered.

"As you wish." The priest said, preparing for another attack. "I wouldn't move if I were you."

"Lest you want your friend here to lose his head." Yet another new voice said.

The Kamado turned towards said voice and saw a fourth demon holding Genya by the neck with his left arm while the right one was poised to pierce his head.

Like the other demon that jumped out of nowhere, this one was completely unremarkable, wearing the same clothes and having a bald head the only real difference being that the horn protruded from the right side of his head.

'Damn it! I smelled another demon but I didn't have time to pinpoint its location.' He thought, gritting his teeth. 'Not that I would have been able to do something with the other three and the humans they're controlling attacking me.'

"Now, come here and become one of my followers." Miko ordered the Demon Slayer.

"I refuse." He answered without missing a beat.

"…you refuse? I believe you are misunderstanding something, that wasn't a request."

"I know that, your scent is coming from all those men and from those three demons." The red haired swordsman said back. "Your Blood Demon Art lets you control others, doesn't it?"

"Hoh, that's correct; as I thought you will make a fine follower." She said with a predatory grin.

She then rolled up her right sleeve before closing her hand into a fist to the point blood began to come out.

Or that's what _should _have come out.

Instead of the red liquid dripping into the ground, what began to fall was a dark green substance that floated just outside of her palm before taking the shape of a small bug that she took between her fingers.

"These little guys here allow me to control anyone, it doesn't matter if they are human or demon once I manage to put one of these in you, you will become my devout follower ready to do my biding."

"Why are you doing this? If you wanted to eat then why terrorize the town and kidnap people?" Tanjiro asked, hoping to win some time to think of a way of saving Genya and defeat all these demons.

"Please, do you think I don't know about your little organization?" Miko said back mockingly. "If I go to a town and start to kill people you Demon Slayers will come and hunt me down; I simply thought of a better approach, instead of killing indiscriminately I will take control of an entire town so they will never speak of my existence, then I will be free to pick any food I want as they cower in fear." She licked her lips at the last sentence. "Fear is an excellent seasoning, you know?"

Tanjiro's grip on his sword tightened.

He could tell, even without his sense of smell that all but confirmed it, everything Miko had just said was true, she was genuinely enjoying controlling the people from the town through fear.

"But you somehow heard about it anyway… oh, well, I'll have to be more thorough on the next town." She shrugged. "Maybe put up a blockade?" It was like she had lost interest in the conversation as she began to mutter ideas for what she should do next time.

'…just a bit more.' For his part, the Kamado had been slowly moving towards his trapped companion as everyone else's attention seemed to have been grabbed by the words of Miko, as if they were waiting to be addressed.

They were still paying some attention to him but his small steps were just slow enough that he didn't draw attention as doing something suspicious.

Or so he thought.

"By the way, I thought I told you not to move." The priest suddenly spoke before looking at the demon that had Genya by the throat. "Kill him."

Tanjiro quickly turned in his direction and tried to stop him but he wouldn't make it in time, there was still too much distance between them and the demon's hand was already moving, ready to pierce through his skull.

A moment later, blood was splattered.

"Ghaaa!" The demon's blood, as his fingers seemed to have been ripped off his hand.

"Let go of me, you asshole!" Genya yelled, using his free hand to hold the arm around his throat in place to then cut it off; he then took advantage of the shock to deliver the final blow and cut off the demon's head. He looked at the arm held in his hand for a moment before clicking his tongue and…

_Chomp_

…take a bite out of it, swallowing the flesh before throwing it away.

'This still makes me want to puke.' He thought as he felt the bruises on his body heal. 'I hope it always does.' He added with a frown.

"What the…?" That was the overall reaction from those who watched the scene, the only ones that didn't seem affected by it were the humans that Miko was controlling but even they were rooted in place, probably because their puppeteer wasn't in a state where she could order them to do anything.

"Alright." Genya turned towards them, revealing that the sclera of his eyes had turned red, his teeth had sharpened to look like fangs and his nails extended slightly so they look like claws; his pupils still remained the same but other than that, he looked exactly like a demon. "Get ready to lose your heads." He growled before dashing, faster than before, towards them.

The priest recovered first, quickly putting his hands together in prayer before extending the right one forward to attack.

Genya didn't stop, he took the attack and pushed back against it, just barely moving backwards before the force died out and he continued forward.

Miko got a hold of herself and pointed at him, sending the controlled humans to intercept him.

The four prepared their spears as they counter-charged him, ready to impale him.

Genya managed to dodge one spear and deflected a second one with his sword but couldn't react in time to avoid the third and fourth ones approaching, aimed at his left leg and right shoulder respectively. 'It's alright, I'll shrug them off after they hit me.' He gritted his teeth, ready for the pain to come.

_Shing_

But it never did, before the spears could get to him, Tanjiro jumped in the middle, spinning forward in mid-air as water surrounded his sword and cut the two weapons before kicking one of the humans away.

"Go, I'll make sure they don't bother you!" The red haired teen yelled.

Getting out of his reverie, the Mizunoto did just that and continued his dash.

"Tch, stop him!" Miko ordered the priest who had his hands already in position and he extended both of them forward.

This time, Genya did stop to brace himself, sheathing his sword and crouching in all fours to receive the attack.

It barely managed to move him.

As soon as the attack died down, he was up again and dashing forward, a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"I said." Miko seethed before flicking her wrist. "Stop him!"

A flash of pain went through the priest's face before he once again brought his hands together and moved one forward.

Genya forced his way forward, mostly ignoring the strain he was putting on his body.

'If it's just one I don't need to brace myself to take the hit.' He thought but just as the first attack died down, a second one came. 'Wha-?!' Then a third, then a fourth.

It continued going, forcing him backwards a bit with every hit as the priest quickly moved his hands in prayer before moving one hand forward and repeated the motion before the first attack died down. The veins on his forehead and arms were bulging and his expression made him look as if he was in pain but he continued his barrage regardless.

'Damn it!' The black haired teen cursed as he felt his feet slip and the next attack sent him flying backwards.

"Genya!" Tanjiro called out as he caught him in mid-air. "Are you alright?"

"Shut up, let go of me!" He answered, squirming to get out of his grip.

Just then, the third demon moved behind Tanjiro, taking advantage of their struggle to catch them off guard and ready to impale both of them with his arm.

The two teens widened their eyes, their bodies trying to move out of the way even knowing there wasn't enough time and-

_Thomp_

The sound of a door being kicked was heard and from the box on the Kamado's back, Nezuko's leg emerged, kicking the demon in its face and sending him crashing against a tree.

"What the…?" It was Genya's turn to be speechless as he saw the demon girl climb out of the box while glaring in the direction of the demon she just kicked.

"What is it with you two?!" Miko yelled, part in shock, part in disbelief. "First one of you eats a demon and almost looks like one and now the other has a demon watching his back, what the hell is going on?!"

"Nezuko." Tanjiro called out, completely ignoring his enemy's outburst.

The younger Kamado turned to him, seemed to give him a once over before smiling under her muzzle.

"What in the…?" Genya repeated as he blinked a few times, trying to make sense of the situation.

Nezuko then turned to him and tilted her head in confusion as if she wasn't sure what she was looking at.

The demon that was blown away by Nezuko jumped back against them and the Kamado's eyes changed into slits and the veins on her forehead bulged as she turned around and kicked him again.

'That's right, she is not so weak that I have to protect her.' Tanjiro thought as Nezuko dodged another attack and punched the demon in the gut to send him flying again.

He remembered the words from his master before he left for his first mission.

* * *

Flashback.

Back in Urokodaki's home two days after Sabito's test, the two were sitting in seiza having just finished their meal.

"Tanjiro." Urokodaki said, earning his attention. "This may only be cold comfort, but while Nezuko was asleep, I used hypnotic suggestion on her."

"Suggestion?" He repeated with a frown.

"'All humans are your family', 'protect humans', 'the demons are the enemy!', 'never forgive any demon who brings harm onto humans!' and other such things." The masked man said. "I can't be certain of how well it worked but, if it did, then it should help curve her impulses as a demon."

"I… see." The red haired teen answered with a complicated expression.

"I know that what I did might anger you." Urokodaki continued. "I am prepared to accept that anger, no matter how I word it what I did was mess with your sister's mind."

"No." Tanjiro shook his head. "I can't say I'm happy about it but I know you didn't do it out of any malicious intent, I would never be angry at someone for helping."

The older man smiled under his mask and brought a hand on top of his pupil's head.

"You are a really kind child." He said as he patted his head earning a chuckle from the teen. "There is one more thing." He continued as he moved his hand back. "Tanjiro, I know that your first impulse when dealing with Nezuko will probably be to want to protect her, and I'm not telling you not to, but there is something you have to remember." The Kamado stared at his master in silence waiting for him to continue. "Your sister, right now, is a demon." The Kamado scowled at this but didn't say anything. "This means that she is not so weak that you have to make sure nothing touches her, I would argue that she is more resilient than you, actually."

The red haired teen frowned but didn't argue.

"I am not saying to have her fight but if you ever find yourself in a situation where you need extra help don't forget that she is there."

He could only nod in response at his words.

* * *

Back to the present.

'With her taking care of that demon and me grabbing the humans' attention…' He trailed off as he turned to his companion. "Nezuko."

The younger Kamado turned to look at him.

"I need you to keep that demon busy while we take care of the others." He gave her a smile. "You can do that, right?"

Her pink eyes widened for a moment before narrowing in determination and she nodded. Then turned back to face her opponent.

"Genya." The aforementioned looked at him, still somewhat shocked. "I will explain later but for now, we need to take those demons down."

"I-"

Before they could continue, Tanjiro pushed Genya away as the priest sent an attack in their direction.

'Why the hell did he have a demon in that box and why is she fighting that other demon?!' The black haired teen wondered as he dodged another 'hand' thrown at him. 'What the hell is going on?!'

"Genya!" His thoughts were cut off by Tanjiro. "I'll make sure the humans stay out of your way, you cut off those demons' heads; I know you can do it!"

'That's…' He trailed off, gritting his teeth in anger before rushing towards the controlled humans.

"Genya?"

"You have a better chance of closing the distance, now move!" He yelled, having seen how he managed to dodge the priest's attacks while he was on the ground.

"Alright!" Not wanting to argue, Tanjiro began to dash towards the other two demons.

"Tch, kill him!" Miko ordered, flicking her wrist again.

The priest demon groaned but brought his hands together in prayer before beginning a barrage similar as to how he did against Genya.

'Right.' The Kamado thought, quickly dodging in that direction. 'Left.' He side-stepped the second attack. 'Jump.' Then moved between the thumbs of the two hands the priest sent his way.

The demon began to mix other attacks, attacking from the sides, from above and sending barrages with his two hands instead of one.

Each and every one was dodged in some way by Tanjiro, whether it was by side-stepping, jumping above them or suddenly increasing his speed for a second.

It's not that he could see the attack coming, some of them maybe, if he stared at the grass and how it moved he could have a good guess of where the attack was coming from but that's not what he did.

He simply smelled the attack or, more accurately, he smelled the way scents got distorted or suddenly moved in certain areas as if something was pushing them around, that alone was enough for him to get a good idea as to where the attack was coming from.

'Keep moving, close the distance.' He told himself as he dodged another attack. 'Just a bit more.'

He jumped over another hand but the demon took advantage of it and moved his other hand upwards, hitting him from below and sending him to the air.

"Good, crush him." Miko ordered.

The priest moved his hands to a prayer position, the separated them and moved them back together.

Tanjiro's eyes widened as he noticed two hands coming in his direction, both from his sides.

'I can't dodge it.' He realized, but didn't panic.

Moving his sword behind him and to the right along with his upper body, as well as moving his lower body to the opposite direction he took a deep breath.

'Total Concentration. Water Breathing. Sixth Form.' Just as the 'hands' were about to crush him he twisted his body. 'Twisting Whirlpool!' And unleashed a vortex that hit the two incoming attacks at the same time.

It didn't cut through them but it did stop the attacks from getting closer long enough for gravity to do its job and drag Tanjiro back down and away from them.

'This brat!' Miko cursed in her mind as she saw the Demon Slayer fall from the sky, straight towards the two of them.

'Almost in range.' The Kamado thought as he held his sword one-handed and poised it for the first from of the Water Breathing style.

The priest moved his hands to a prayer position.

'There! The opening thread.' The thread connecting to the demon's neck grew taut as he continued falling towards him. 'First Form!'

The demon began to move his right hand forward.

'Water Surface Slash!' But was a moment too late and Tanjiro's sword sliced through his neck, severing it from the rest of the body.

"Ah…" The priest let out a sigh as a bug similar to the one Miko had showed earlier was also split in two thanks to Tanjiro's attack. "Thank you." He whispered as he closed his eyes and let his body disappear.

'This scent… he is relieved.' The Kamado thought, a sad look flashing in his eyes for a moment, but he would have to pray for him later.

Moving swiftly, he ducked under Miko's right hand that held the bug, as if she was trying to tag him with it, and then did an upwards slash cutting the bug in half and her arm from her hand to her forearm in one swing.

The female demon let out a pained yell that grew in volume when Tanjiro cut her legs, making her fall on her knees, then moved his sword to her neck just enough to nick her but not decapitating her yet.

"What…?" She thought out loud, her eyes staying on the sword that could end her life at any moment.

"Tell me everything you know about Kibutsuji Muzan." The Kamado ordered.

"Eh?" And for the first time, her expression truly changed to fear.

So far her expressions had ranged from anger, to glee, to disinterest but even when Tanjiro closed the distance she did her best to remain somewhat stoic, even with the nichirinto ready to sever her neck the only fear coming from her was detected due to Tanjiro's nose.

But now, she looked truly terrified, her eyes were wide open to the point it looked like they could come out of their sockets, a cold sweat was running down her face and her entire body was trembling.

"Tell me!" The red haired teen ordered even as she seemed one step away from a panic attack. "Start talking!"

"I-I can't tell you." Miko stuttered with a gulp. "I-I can't tell you." She repeated. "I can't tell you." Again. "I can't tell you." And again. "I can't tell you." And again. "I can't tell you." And again.

'This scent of fear, it's the worst I have ever encountered.' The Kamado thought. 'She's trembling right down to her bones.'

"I can't tell you!" She said again as her arm healed and tried to strike against Tanjiro.

Before she could get anywhere close, Tanjiro slashed with his sword, finally killing her.

Her head rolled on the ground two times before stopping and turning to ashes.

The swordsman watched her disappear with a pained expression as he tightened the grip on his weapon.

"Again, I couldn't get any information." He let out a sigh before turning back to the others.

The four humans lay on the ground unconscious and he caught the last of the other demon as Nezuko kicked him towards Genya and the latter decapitated it.

'It's over.' He thought as he gave one last sniff, confirming that there were no more demon scents.

With heavy steps, he walked towards his two companions, Genya looking at him with narrowed eyes while Nezuko smiled in his direction and skipped towards him.

The older Kamado gave her a weak smile as he met her halfway and hugged her.

"I'm sorry Nezuko, please wait a bit longer." He said, forcing down the lump on his throat. "I promise I will turn you back into a human! Please wait a bit longer."

For her part, Nezuko tightened the hug, trying to give him some comfort.

"Are you alright? Any injuries?" Tanjiro asked after they separated and looking her over, there was some dried blood in one of her arms, probably courtesy of that demon, but the wound seemed to have already closed. "I'm glad." He said, taking out a handkerchief and cleaning the blood.

"Hey." Genya's voice brought him out of his thoughts as he approached the two, his appearance still resembling a demon's and his sword remaining unsheathed. "I think we need to talk."

Taking a deep breath, the red haired teen nodded and the three sat on the ground. With Nezuko lying down next to her brother with her head pointing at Genya.

"Are you alright?" The Kamado began.

"Huh?"

"You look like a demon, should we move inside that temple in case the sun begins to rise?" He clarified.

"I'm not a demon, idiot." Genya answered with a glare. "I'll go back to normal soon."

"Then… what happened to you?"

The taller swordsman bit back a comment.

'I wanted to be the one questioning him about that demon in the box.' He thought. 'But… he is actually worried?' While he didn't have a borderline supernatural sense of smell like Tanjiro, Genya considered himself fairly good at telling when someone is lying to him or trying to distract him.

From his fellow Mizunoto, he could only see genuine worry in his eyes.

So, letting out a sigh, he began to talk.

"I don't know exactly how it works; long story short, I fought a demon during the Final Selection, managed to kill it but it gave me a serious wound, a mortal one, so in desperation I grabbed a piece of his body that hadn't disappeared yet and ate it thinking 'if demons can regenerate maybe I can do the same by eating one', I was lucky and my wound healed letting me pass the Final Selection." He said in one breath, wanting to get it over with.

"And it doesn't affect you? Beyond the physical change and regeneration, I mean."

"It only lasts a short while, I haven't tried standing under the sun, I don't feel like pushing my luck, and I don't get any urges to eat humans so I'd say I'm fine all things considered."

"Even so, I don't think you should eat demons, what if you eat too many and end up turning into one?"

"Shut up, that's none of your business!" Genya snarled, his demonic appearance adding to his already normally intimidating look. "If it lets me fight then I will eat as many demons as I need to."

"It is my business, we're comrades, it's only natural I would worry about you." Tanjiro countered calmly, not looking intimidated at all. "And I get why you did it during the Final Selection but if you have to eat demons to fight-"

"Not another word!" The black haired teen snarled again. "You don't know shit so whatever you have to say, save it!"

"…why do you want to fight so bad that you will go to these extremes?" Tanjiro asked, his expression a mix of worry and curiosity.

'This guy…' At that expression, he could only sigh in defeat.

"Alright, do you know about the Pillars?"

"I know of them but I've only met the Water Pillar, Sabito." The Kamado nodded.

"You met- doesn't matter." Genya shook his head. "The Wind Pillar's name is Shinazugawa Sanemi, he is my older brother."

There were a few seconds of silence and then a wide smile appeared in the red haired teen's face.

"Ah, so you want to help your brother fight demons?"

"Yeah…" He trailed off with an uneasy expression.

"That's a great goal… I'm not sure he would be happy about the extremes you're taking to do it, though." Tanjiro finished with a frown.

"He may not even care."

"Hm, what do you mean?"

'Crap, I said that out loud.' Letting out another sigh, he looked away before speaking. "After passing the Final Selection I asked where he lived and went to visit, to tell him that I'd joined the corps and…" Genya trailed off gritting his teeth. "He said 'I don't have a brother, leave the corps' before literally throwing me out of his home."

The black haired teen continued to avert his gaze, waiting for the other Mizunoto to ask him why, he knows that question is coming, he just doesn't want to answer it until asked.

"HUH?!" Instead, the Kamado let out an incredulous yell, making him look back at him. "What the hell?! It would be one thing if he is telling you not to eat demons but to say something like that! Where is he?!" He got up and grabbed him from his arm before literally beginning to drag him.

"Hey, what-?"

"No older brother worth the title would say something like that to his siblings; guide me to his house right now! I'm going to head-butt him until he apologizes!" Tanjiro said, his cheeks slightly puffed as he seemed to let out small puffs of breath in anger.

"Wha- Wait! You don't get it!"

"I will spin to add more strength to my head-butt and the moment I see him-"

"Wait! He is right to hate me!"

That sentence made him stop and turn around with narrowed eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Letting out another sigh, Genya freed his arm from his grip and gestured for him to sit down, which he did.

"Look… I don't want your pity, I'm just telling you this so you leave my brother alone." He began, taking a deep breath and looking down with a haunted expression. "I come from a family of nine, our father was an abusive asshole who would beat my mother, my siblings and me while my mother was a hardworking woman who always protected us from him; the asshole was hated by pretty much everyone in our town so someone attacked and killed him one day, I don't know who and I can't say I much care for it either." He shrugged before continuing. "Anyway, Sanemi and I bowed to help our mother and provide for our siblings and protect them, things were rough but we had a roof over our heads and food on the table so it was good all things considered." The black haired teen gritted his teeth, fighting down tears. "Until one night… our mother was late to come back so Sanemi went out to look for her while I stayed behind with our siblings, I was trying to get them to sleep but they kept saying they were worried for our mom, then… there was a knock on the door." Genya began to grit his teeth harder to the point it wouldn't be a surprise if he were to damage them before forcing himself to tell the rest of the story. "My siblings thought it might be our mother so they ran there despite me telling them not to, then the door was sliced open… cutting my siblings along with it."

Tanjiro knew from the beginning that this story wasn't going to end well but hearing that…

"I-I thought it was a wolf or something and it was about to attack me… but Nemi tackled it out of a window and to the streets." He let out a sob but shook his head to force the tears away.

It did not work.

"I-I knew that my siblings were dead but- but I couldn't process it so I laid them down on the floor as gently as possible before running to find a doctor and…" Another sob as he forced himself to continue. "I saw Nemi over our mother's corpse with a bloodied knife on his hand and… I called him a murderer, even as the sun began to rise and my mother dissolved on my arms I… I said things I can never take back." Pausing for a moment to take a deep breath and wipe the remaining tears, he sighed before continuing. "We went our separate ways after that and I eventually found out about demons and that he had joined the Demon Slayer corps. I-I want to apologize, to say sorry for everything I said back then but he won't even look at me…" Genya finally looked up and had to do a double take at what he saw.

The red haired swordsman was crying, he wasn't making any sounds or sobs but tears fell freely from his eyes.

"H-Hey, I told you I don't want your pity, I'm the one that screwed up!" He quickly yelled.

"No." Tanjiro shook his head, using his left arm to wipe his tears while his right one moved Nezuko a bit closer. "I-I'm sorry, it's not that I'm pitying you it's just… I can relate." He finally said, making the other Demon Slayer widen his eyes. "Sorry, I don't mean to make this about me."

"…it's fine." Genya said quietly.

He may be referred to as 'abrasive', and that's when someone is trying to be polite, but he knows where to draw a line.

The three sat there for a few minutes, with Nezuko hugging her brother as he finished crying.

"Sorry about that."

"I said it's fine." The black haired teen repeated. "So, why are you traveling with a demon?"

"…she's my little sister, her name is Nezuko." Tanjiro began. "We used to be charcoal sellers, I lived with my four other siblings and our parents on a mountain; two years ago, I went down the mountain to sell charcoal because I wanted my siblings to have a feast for New Year. It was late by the time I finished so a neighbor let me stay on his home for the night." Genya recognized that look and the way he paused, he had a good guess about where this story was headed and he had to choke down a curse because of it. "The next morning, I began to make my way up, I was near my house when… when I smelled blood so I hurried back." The Kamado closed his eyes with a scowl. "When I got there, Nezuko was lying outside the door to our house with our youngest brother under her, as if she was trying to protect her, and there was blood splattered around them… I rushed towards them in a panic… then looked inside the house and…"

"Save me the details." Genya said, taking a deep breath to force the image of his murdered family out of his mind. 'He is probably like me in that regard, that image will haunt us for the rest of our lives.' He saved that thought to himself but was fairly certain that the red haired teen thinks the same way.

"Anyway, Nezuko was still warm so I placed her on my back and ran down the mountain as fast as possible, thinking that she might survive if I get her to a doctor."

"…did you get her to one?" Genya asked cautiously, afraid of what might happen next. 'If he got her to a populated area, then…'

"No." Tanjiro shook his head. "I fell down a slope and Nezuko tried to attack me, I managed to bring her back from the brink and convinced the Demon Slayer that appeared there to let her live as she hasn't killed anyone and that I will find a way to turn her back into a human."

"I… I've never heard of a demon turning back into a human." The Shinazugawa said.

"I'll find a way." The response was carried over in a tone that conveyed pure determination. The type a person has when one _will_ do what they set out to do, regardless of the odds or what others say.

"After that, the Demon Slayer told me to go see the person that became my master and I spent two years training before going to the Final Selection." He finished.

There was silence for almost a minute, with only the wind blowing and the rustle of leaves as the only sounds.

"…Genya." Until the Kamado broke it. "Please, don't tell anyone about Nezuko." He pleaded.

The black haired swordsman thought about it for a second before sighing and shaking his head.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." He muttered with a chuckle before looking at him. "I won't; in exchange, don't tell anyone about me eating demons."

Tanjiro gave a weak smile and nodded.

* * *

**Another one done!**

**I want to thank the people from the Discord server I joined for agreeing to my request of 'telling me to get to writing', I needed that extra push to finish this today!**

**As always, I hope you enjoyed and don't be shy about leaving reviews!**

**Until next time.**


	10. Fighting without seeing the end

**Interlude**

**Fighting without seeing the end**

**Guest review answer corner.**

**.**

**Guest: Genya is the definition of 'looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll' and he definitely could have used some friends in canon.**

**When you think about it, Tanjiro and Genya have a lot in common; they are both the (or one of the) eldest sons, they care about their families, Muzan screwed them over and they're more determined than almost anyone else (not counting the pillars).**

**Well, I guess I'll have to outlast you in enjoying the cheering and encouragement because I'm certainly not getting tired of receiving it before you get tired of giving it, hahaha.**

**Thanks for the review, until next time!**

**AzureFan2: Thanks, glad you like it!**

**I don't see my motivation wavering any time soon bu~t I won't deny that having more reviews would give me even more motivation, therefore making me want to write more and having the chapters out even sooner :)**

**I'm a he, by the way.**

**.**

**Okay, this chapter will be significantly shorter than usual; there is a reason for it, though.**

**You see, while Tanjiro and Genya were fighting the demons, it's not like Ozaki and Murata were sitting on their thumbs waiting and so I want to show that, even if they're not the main focus, other Demon Slayers do things and aren't just there for the sake of being there.**

**As always, I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to say that I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba each chapter? Not rhetorical, this is a genuine question.**

* * *

The downwards strike of a man wielding a club was easily side-stepped and then the assailant was hit back with the dull side of a katana.

The woman with the sword quickly took some distance between them and was then forced to parry a sickle by a new enemy before kicking them away.

A third one tried to catch her by surprise and grab her only for her arms to pass through the air as the swordswoman was already a few feet to its right.

This had been pretty much the entirety of Ozaki's fight; avoid being hit while keeping her assailants at a distance and move so she's not overwhelmed by numbers.

She wasn't too worried during this fight, even if controlled they were still humans, aside from the fact that they didn't get knocked out they couldn't hold a candle against a demon.

That was true at the beginning of the battle but now, a full two hours later, she was beginning to reconsider.

It's true that the controlled humans were nowhere near the threat that a demon posed but, unlike the demons, she couldn't cut off their heads and be done with it.

Ozaki was in great shape, she had to be if she wanted to survive her battles against Demons, not to mention Total Concentration Breathing it's not something you can pull off if your body isn't strong enough to handle it after all, but she was still very much human and fatigue was beginning to pile up as she was forced to constantly defend herself without the option to reduce the number of her assailants.

Another group tried to get her and she once again began to dodge, parry or block to then get some distance.

She did try getting out of their sight and hiding to rest for a moment around the half-hour mark but the second she wasn't seen they moved against some of the not controlled humans around or towards Murata who was getting people out of the burning buildings.

After they did that, she had no choice but to always stand somewhere they could see her, even worse, she had to be close enough so that they would attack her, if she got too much distance they would turn away to find other prey therefore forcing her to move closer and get their attention.

'Damn it, how much longer?' That question had been repeating itself in her mind from around the one hour mark, slowly chipping away at her mental fortitude.

Fighting is something she could do without issue but in every battle she has fought so far there was always an end in sight, the moment she cut off her opponent's head the battle was over, so even if it was a long fight she knows how to end it.

This was not the case now since there is no way for her to know when the fight will end. The only thing she can do is keep the 'puppets' busy while Tanjiro and Genya finish off the demon but even then, there is a chance that they are not able to win against it.

Worst case scenario, the demon would show up in town before the night ends forcing her to fight while exhausted.

Jumping backwards to avoid a sickle, the black haired woman took a deep breath to clear her head.

'Don't think like that, just believe those two will manage and continue fighting here.' Saying that to herself for the third time she poised her sword to receive the next group of assailants.

"Ozaki-san!"

"Murata, is the evacuation complete?" She asked, even as she began to maneuver around a group of enemies.

"Yes, I just emptied the last building." He answered and unsheathed his sword before drawing the attention of some of the 'puppets'.

"Good, now we just need to hold on until Tanjiro and Genya finish off the demon."

"Yes!"

.

.

An hour later and the end of the fight was still nowhere in sight.

"You know? I think I never really paid much attention to it but I need to thank whoever made the uniforms." Ozaki said, standing with her sword held in her right hand, her left arm was hanging limply on her side.

"Yeah, I lost count of how many times I would have lost something important if it wasn't because of it." Murata answered, holding his weapon with both hands and ignoring the blood dripping from his cheek.

After Murata joined the fray the two managed to keep the controlled humans at bay with ease for quite some time but not long after every single 'puppet' that must have been scattered to attack the townspeople converged in their position, worst still, they flanked from both sides.

Knowing that they couldn't hold off that many while surrounded, they checked which side looked to have the least resistance and broke through.

They didn't do so without some wounds, though.

While the uniforms did a good job stopping sickles and other bladed weapons from cutting them, it couldn't stop the strength behind a hit so when Ozaki was blocking a strike from one of their foes, another one managed to catch her by surprise and hit her with a club; she managed to raise her left arm in time to block but the strength behind the hit was more than she expected, adding her fatigue and that she was still holding another enemy back and the attack ended up being far worse than what she needed.

At best, her bones are cracked, at worst broken.

'Any time would be good you two.' She thought, referring to her two juniors.

"Ghaaa-" Almost as if on cue, every single person there stopped moving before falling to the ground unconscious.

"…what the… did they do it?" Murata asked, shocked at the sudden end of their battle.

"Looks like it." Ozaki answered, letting out a sigh of relief before sheathing her sword. "Let the townspeople know that it's over and to come back again to help put down the fires, I'll begin on that while you go."

"Actually, it might be better if you go tell them." Murata said calmly, earning a look from the black haired woman. "My wounds are shallow in comparison and you must be way more tired than I am, not to mention I can use both arms." He explained himself.

"…fair point." Ozaki conceded. "Where are they now?"

"Go west and you will see a path inside of the forest, you can't miss it."

Nodding, the Tsuchinoto took off.

* * *

After she informed everyone that the situation was under control and asked their help putting down fires, most townspeople were somewhat sceptic, thinking that maybe she was being controlled by the demon. Luckily, Kei was there and she said she was going to go help. The others quickly joined, not about to let a little girl do all the work.

And so, everyone that wasn't injured began to help putting out the fires, going to the different wells, filling buckets with water and then passing them around.

The process was repeated over and over.

Meanwhile some people moved the humans that were previously controlled to the side and tended to the bodies of those that couldn't escape the demon's sudden attack.

'I know I should be happy we managed to limit the damage but…' Ozaki trailed off as she caught glance of a man crying over someone's body.

Shaking her head, she continued to help, making sure to not use her injured arm.

* * *

By the time the fires were finally all put out the sun was up and shining over the town; the damage could have been worse, all things considered, only a part of the buildings were razed to the ground while most of it was still more or less intact, with some buildings needing more repairs than others.

The death toll, while it also could have been worse, wasn't small and was by far the worst blow the town had received. Some people had even blamed the controlled humans for the death in their grief; luckily, some of the other townspeople maintained a level head and managed to control the situation before it would get bad. It would take time but they would recover.

With that done, Ozaki and Murata decided to go check on their juniors since they still hadn't come back.

"How far is that makeshift temple?" Murata asked Kei as the girl guided them.

"It's pretty far but we should be able to get there and back before lunch at our current pace." The girl answered, clutching the fox mask Tanjiro had given her to her chest as if wanting to avoid anything from damaging it. "I just hope they're okay."

"Don't worry, we'll probably end up finding them mid-way to the place." Ozaki assured her.

"But the red haired nii-chan didn't have his mask; he said it contained a protection spell, what if he's hurt because he left it with me?"

"Hehe, while having the mask may be good, there is no way he managed to defeat demons by just relying on it, don't worry." Murata answered her.

"Ozaki-san! Murata-san! Kei!" As they heard their names, the three looked forward and saw Tanjiro, Genya and at least ten other people walking in their direction.

The two Demon Slayers seemed to be okay, at least from a distance they couldn't see any obvious injuries.

The people walking behind them were another story, most of them looked injured, only a few in any major way, luckily, but… there were also some death among them, carried on the backs of the ones that looked to be in the best shape.

"Those are… Mom! Dad!" Kei yelled, ignoring everything else and running towards her parents.

"Kei!" The two yelled back, as they ran towards her and hugged her. The girl clearly took after her mother as they both had the same features as well as the same hair style and eye color while the father's eyes were brown and his hair was cut short and was a lighter shade of black.

"I-I was so worried! I thought you, you… wah!" She couldn't even finish her sentence as she began sobbing and burying her head in her parents' embrace.

The two Demon Slayers accompanying her smiled at the scene.

"What? No hug for me." Another voice asked.

"Nii-san!" Kei yelled as she looked up.

Her brother, much like her had black hair but inherited his father's eyes.

He was currently been helped to walk by another of the people rescued and he quickly helped him forward so he could join the family reunion.

"Everything okay?" Ozaki asked her two juniors even as she continued to smile at the scene.

"Yes, there was more than one demon but we managed to bring them down." Tanjiro answered.

"More than one?" Murata asked, surprised.

"We'll explain when we get back." Genya answered this time before stifling a yawn.

"Hmm, we're not going to be sent into a new mission immediately like before… right?" The Kamado asked nervously.

"Don't worry, if the crows haven't told us anything then we get one or two days of rest." Ozaki explained. "I believe we've earned them."

"Tell me about it, I feel like I could keel over at any second." Murata said with a sigh.

"Well, we still have to go back to town before we can rest." Tanjiro chimed in.

"They're right, come on." One of the freed prisoners said after overhearing them. "I want to get there as soon as possible."

A chorus of agreements followed that statement.

"Tanjiro-san." Kei called out, standing next to him. "Here, thank you for letting me borrow it."

"You're welcome, I trust it kept you safe." He answered with a smile as he took his fox mask.

"Yes! And you even saved my family, thank you very much!" She bowed before running off towards said family.

With smiles on their faces, everyone continued the path to the town.

* * *

**And done!**

**Like I said, this chapter is considerably shorter than the others but I already explained why earlier so I'm not going to repeat myself.**

**If you're wondering why I didn't just put the fight at the town on the previous chapter, I tried, but I couldn't find a place to add it that felt right for me so I decided to make it its own chapter plus adding the aftermath of the battle from Ozaki and Murata's side.**

**I also thought about writing about 'Priest' and 'Miko' is backstories… but I felt like it would be adding words for the sake of doing so instead of for an actual purpose.**

**In any case, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Don't forget to leave a review!**

**Until next time!**


	11. An old trauma

**An old trauma**

**Guest review answer corner.**

**.**

**Guest: Like I said, I hope to show that the other Demon Slayers are doing things, maybe not to the level of our protagonists but that doesn't mean they aren't important.**

**Sadly, yes, it would be unrealistic to make it as if they saved everyone; there would have already been casualties before they even arrived.**

**Thanks! I hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

**Until next time.**

**YoungTaoist: Wait, don't say that! That's inviting Murphy's Law to wreck things!**

**Haha, sorry I couldn't resist; on a serious note, I don't think I will lose steam any time soon and I will do my best!**

**Guest: Glad you like it! I hope you continue to enjoy it!**

**Guest: Sorry, I don't give spoilers for my stories, you'll have to wait and see.**

**And thanks, I'm happy to hear you're enjoying it, I hope you continue to do so!**

**Until next time.**

**.**

**Welp, sorry for the somewhat long absence everyone, I got caught up between the holidays and the TanKana Week so I didn't have much time to write for this.**

**Having said that, I won't keep you any longer.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer:**

**Same old, same old**

**Demon Slayer I don't own.**

* * *

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Tanjiro asked worriedly.

"Relax, once I get better I'll catch up with you." Ozaki answered with a grin.

She, Tanjiro, Murata and Genya were at the entrance of the town, the last three ready to depart.

"It's only a broken arm; trust me, I've had worse." The black haired girl assured him as she pointed to the sling that held the limb.

"That's not necessarily a good thing." Murata commented earning a shrug from her.

"I already informed headquarters and they will send another Demon Slayer to cover for me until I'm better." Ozaki continued. "If I'm honest, I think you could handle missions on your own, and said as much in my report, but the higher-ups insist on having someone assess you for a bit longer."

"It's fine, having someone watch your back is reassuring." Tanjiro answered smiling.

"Caw! Orders! Kamado Tanjiro! Go to Asakusa! Meet there with the other Demon Slayer and investigate the rumors about demons! Caw!" Tanjiro's crow said as it flew in circles over the four.

"I guess that's your cue." Murata said.

"Yes, good luck during your missions." The red haired teen answered, adjusting the box on his back.

"You too, see ya." Genya answered as the Kamado began to walk away while waving at them.

"We should get going as well." The Kanoe mentioned. "We already got our orders; I hope you recover soon, Ozaki-san."

"Thanks, take care of yourselves out there."

"Until we meet again." Genya bowed before him and Murata also began to walk away.

'I don't know what happened but Shinazugawa seems a lot more approachable now.' Murata thought. 'If I didn't know any better, I would think that he is being controlled like the people in town were.' He wisely decided to keep that to himself.

Genya might seem more approachable but he is not about to test his limits.

"Well then… guess I'll go see what I can do around town." Ozaki thought out loud as she turned around.

The attack had happened barely two days ago but the reconstruction effort was going well, a few fights almost broke out about the controlled people but other than that, things were going smoothly.

'I really hope they can put the whole thing behind them.' The swordswoman thought with a sigh before beginning to walk around.

* * *

Asakusa, night-time, three days earlier.

Contrary to other towns Asakusa has a very modern, or perhaps foreign would be a better word, air about it.

Even in the middle of the night the streets were lit up to the point that any person could see as if it was the middle of the day and the town was bustling with activity with people in both Japanese and Western clothing walking around and visiting the different establishments that, in most places, would be closed by this time.

Among these people there was one Soda Shohei, a Tsuchinoto ranked Demon Slayer.

He is 5' 7" tall with medium long, lank, brown hair pulled into a ponytail, a lean face with a square jaw, a flat nose, large ears and narrow lips; his eyes, the same color as his hair, are wide and he has thick eyebrows.

Like any Demon Slayer, he is wearing the corps' uniform and his Nichirin blade is strapped to his hip.

'Hnng, I really don't want to babysit a Mizunoto.' He grumbled as he made his way among the many people walking around. 'I get what the higher-ups are thinking but you never know how strong a demon might be, I can't afford to keep an eye on them while also fighting.' Letting out a sigh, he moved to an alley to get away from the multitude. 'Then again, we all started as a Mizunoto at first… guess I can at least be polite to the guy, whether or not I keep being like that will be up to him.' With his mind made up, he retrieved a paper from his pants' left pocket.

The paper contained his orders about acting as the overseer for a new member of the corps, he had crumbled it before fully reading it and stuffed it there.

Shohei doesn't have a problem with new members, he has met a few and he was one at one point, but it would be a lie if he said that he agrees with this new 'Squad System' the corps seem to be trying to implement.

It's not with the idea of forming groups of Demon Slayers, he actually agrees with that part, but the idea of having the new ones assessed; in his opinion, they should be sent on solo missions like everyone else up until this point so they can prove themselves.

He is very much aware that some, if not all, of them could die but if you didn't want to risk your life then you shouldn't have become a Demon Slayer in the first place.

In any case, he has his orders and he is not about to let personal feelings get in the way. A part of him even hopes that he is mistaken and that this method proves to be useful.

'Let's see, the name of the Mizunoto is Kamado Tanjiro, he has red hair and eyes, wears a checkered haori over the uniform and has a scar on the left side of his forehead; they say he should arrive in two to three days.' The brown haired man read.

His crow would usually just tell him this stuff but having a bird speak in the middle of a place like Asakusa, where people seemed to almost never sleep, would draw unwanted attention. At least, that's the explanation he found satisfactory when he wondered why he received a letter.

'Well, I have a few days I should start looking around to see if I find any clues about the demons… where to start looking in a place like this, though?' He frowned at that thought, trying to think of a good place to begin searching.

"E-excuse me…" He was taken out of his thoughts when he felt someone pulling on his pants.

Looking down, he saw a girl, no more than ten, with black hair tied into two braids and wearing an orange western dress.

"Is something wrong?" Shohei asked amicably as he knelt down to be at eye level with her.

The girl fidgeted in place as she looked towards her feet.

"Are you perhaps lost?" The girl nodded, while grabbing the hem of her skirt hard. "I can help you find your parents if you want." He offered.

"Really?!" The girl asked, looking back up with a wide smile.

"Of course, do you remember where you last saw them?"

"…no." She said, once again looking down. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, do you know where they could be then?"

The little girl shook her head.

'Guess I'm babysitting earlier than expected.' The brown haired man thought with a resigned smile. "Well, we certainly won't find them if we stay in this alley." He offered his hand. "Shall we walk around until you spot them?"

"Yes, thank you very much mister!" The black haired girl said, taking his hand.

"You're welcome." Shohei stood back to his full height as the two began to walk around Asakusa.

.

.

Soda Shohei doesn't consider himself a patient person, he knows how to reel in this aspect of his personality most of the time but after walking around for an hour and a half and not finding the little girl, Haruka she said her name was, is parents his patience was beginning wear thin.

"Is everything okay?" The black haired girl asked, stifling a yawn and rubbing her eyes to stay awake.

"Yes, everything is fine." He answered with a small smile; impatient or not, he wasn't about to vent on the poor girl that seemed about to pass out. "Are you alright, though?"

"I'm... fine." She answered in a whisper, her head bobbing down and up as her body demanded rest.

"You seem sleepy, though." The brown haired man commented.

"Have to… find… mom and dad…"

'What to do?' Shohei wondered.

He would offer to carry her on his back so she can sleep until they find them but the description she gave of her parents when asked wasn't enough for him, not because it was bad but because there were many people that could fit the description; a man and a woman between 25 and 30 wearing western clothes and with black hair wasn't enough for him to search; the only thing that sounded eye-catching about her parents was, no pun intended, her dad's eyes that she said were red.

'Maybe we should check at the police station, her parents might have gone there to let them know about a missing person.' The Tsuchinoto thought. 'If not, I could leave her there to rest while they track down their parents… better hide my sword, though.' That last part was the reason why he didn't take her to a police officer from the beginning.

While most people won't really look twice at someone carrying a katana, it was technically illegal to do so, if he walked into a police station with it in display for everyone to see it would cause trouble that he would rather avoid.

'Alright, I'll just ask her to wait for a bit so I can wrap it in cloth and then we'll look for a station.' With his mind made up, he asked Haruka to wait for a moment while he took a roll of cloth from one of his pockets and covered his entire Nichirin blade with it, as far as anyone could tell, it was a walking stick or something like that. 'At the very least, it should give me enough time to enter and explain her situation before they say anything.'

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, I just thought that we should go ask at a police station if anyone has seen your parents." He answered.

"Oh… okay…"

.

.

'Alright, I just have to be ready to bail if necessary.' Shohei thought as he opened the station's door and walked in with Haruka in hand.

"Excuse me." He said to the officer standing at the front desk.

"Yes, may I help you?"

"This child got separated from her parents and-"

"Haruka!"

Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the yell of a female voice.

The three turned to voice's direction and saw a woman in western clothing running towards them, or more specifically, towards Haruka.

"Mom!" The girl yelled, letting go of the Demon Slayer and running towards her.

"Never mind." The brown haired man said with a grin to the officer who nodded with a smile of his own.

"Where were you?! I was worried sick!" The woman said, hugging her.

"I'm sorry, I went to explore but when I realized you and Dad weren't there, I won't do it again." The girl answered between sobs.

"It's okay, just as long as you're fine." She said, still hugging the girl as if afraid she might disappear. "_Are_ you alright? Did something happen?"

"No, I got lost but the mister there helped me search for you and then brought me here." Haruka answered with a smile, pointing at the brown haired man.

The mother quickly got up and bowed.

"Thank you very much for bringing my daughter back."

"Please, raise your head ma'am, I couldn't just leave her alone." Soda assured her.

"Is something the matter?" A new voice asked.

"Ah, dear, look."

"Dad!"

"Haruka." The man, Haruka's father apparently, smiled and casually walked towards the two. "Where were you? You suddenly disappeared on me."

"I'm sorry, I wanted to explore but I lost sight of you." The little girl apologized, looking at the ground.

"Well, as long as you're okay then it's fine." The man said calmly.

"Oh, yeah, Tsukihiko-san, this man here brought her back." The black haired woman said, gesturing towards the Demon Slayer.

"…I see." The man with red eyes said. "Thank you for bringing our daughter back to us."

"Don't mention it… if you excuse me, I have somewhere to be." With that, Shohei bowed and briskly walked away.

"Thank you, mister!" Haruka yelled after him.

.

.

"…WHAT IN THE HELL?!" The Tsuchinoto screamed as soon as he got to an alley, away from the bustle of the town. "Tha-that was a demon! Why was it pretending to be human?! And it has a family?!"

Taking a few deep breaths, the swordsman managed to get his bearings.

'Alright, calm down and think… that man was definitely a demon, I've been on this job long enough to recognize them and the eyes definitely confirmed it but… those two were humans.'

Soda spent the next twenty minutes trying to make sense of the situation to no avail.

'Alright, whatever, I can think why it was pretending to be human later, for now I just found a giant clue as to the demon rumors in this place… damn it!' He punched the nearest wall. 'I ran out of there in panic due to the situation, how am I going to find that demon again now?!' Hitting the wall one more time, he took another breath to calm down. 'What's done is done, at least I have a clear objective now, I just have to hunt it down.'

Nodding to himself, Shohei turned around to go back to the police station- _DLING_

Suddenly, the area around the Demon Slayer changed; the alley disappeared and in its place was…

'What the hell is this?' It looked like the interior of a Japanese castle but it was simply _wrong_ in many levels.

The area didn't seem to have any defined walls, wherever there was one, it only reached a certain point before going further, the exterior of what must be the hallways served as bridges for anyone to walk on top of and the entire area seemed to be moving around.

The only reason why the Demon Slayer didn't immediately yell was because he hadn't fully processed the sudden change in his environment.

_DLING_

The same sound he heard before being transported to this area sounded and he moved his sight towards the source.

There was a woman with a black kimono, a pale complexion and long brown hair that reached to her waist sitting in seiza while holding a wooden biwa.

But his attention was on the other figure standing beside her.

Wearing a black western outfit with a white fedora, curly black hair, and red eyes; this was the demon he encountered back on that police station.

'Is this his Blood Demon Art?' The Tsuchinoto's mind immediately snapped into combat mode, undoing the cloth around his Nichirin Blade and unsheathing it to prepare his guard. 'No, maybe it's that woman's.'

"Unbelievable." The red-eyed demon said, shaking his head. "I've been avoiding you nuisances for centuries and one of you finds me because of one stupid human that doesn't understand something as simple as staying near your parents."

"What…?"

"I suppose it doesn't matter, once I kill you I should have a few more days to prepare things before another of you insects is sent to Asakusa." The man continued, clearly ignoring the human in front of him.

"What are you talking about?" The brown haired man asked with narrowed eyes.

"Die." He was once again ignored, that one word being the only time that the demon has spoken to him since it appeared.

The next thing he knows, Soda felt a sting on his right cheek; moving a hand towards it, he noticed that he was bleeding.

'When-GHHAAAA.'

The Tsuchinoto fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

'Poison?! Need to breathe and-AAAAAAA'

"It's useless." The red eyed demon said, looking at the human writhing in pain without much interest. "Your body won't be able to handle the amount of blood I injected in you and will simply fall apart... unless, of course, you somehow manage to adapt to it and become a demon."

"Wha… what are you… wait…" Shohei managed to say through the pain, realization making his eyes open wide. "You are-GHAAAAAA!"

"Well, not that I expect you to actually adapt to it." With those words, the demon began to walk away. "Dispose of him once he is dead." He said to the woman.

"Understood." She answered simply, before playing another cord of her instrument, opening a door of him to pass through.

'He can't come.' Shohei thought, his mind working at over capacity to try and think of a solution. 'A Mizunoto won't do anything against that thing, we need the Pillars, I need to inform this-GHAAA.' But even if he wanted to, his body wouldn't answer, the pain was making it almost impossible for him to think and he could feel his mind slowly slipping away.

'Have to… tell…' Those were his las thoughts before darkness surrounded him.

* * *

Present, night time, Asakusa.

Tanjiro didn't think that many things could surprise him anymore; ever since learning about the existence of demons and Total Concentration Breathing, he thought that towns wouldn't have something that would genuinely surprise him.

He was wrong.

'Are the cities this advanced now?' He thought, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets at the sight in front of him while Nezuko, whom he let out of the box so she could walk for a bit, seemed about to fall asleep, clearly not interested on the sights. 'It's nighttime, but it's so bright out!'

No matter where he looked, the entire place was lit up as people walked around.

'The buildings are so tall! What is this?' Holding on to Nezuko's hand so she wouldn't get lost, Tanjiro began to walk, still in shock at the foreign things he kept seeing.

There was even a strange carriage that moved over two metal rails without any horses.

"I feel dizzy." The Kamado thought out loud, covering his head with a scarf similar to the one his master had when he first met him. 'I need a place without so many lights.'

He saw an alley that seemed a good place to rest for now and walked in-

"Ah?!" To a couple making out. "I-I beg your pardon!" The red haired teen said with a blush as he bowed and turned around; not that the couple seemed to notice him.

.

.

Tanjiro continued to walk around the brightly lit streets, trying to find a place where he could actually sleep without all the lights and noise; he didn't find one but at least he was able to find a place with only a few street lamps around that he liked better than the roads in Asakusa. As a bonus, there was an Udon cart there and food sounded like an amazing idea right now.

"Excuse me." He called out to the owner, a bald man with a stripped brown and black kimono. "A bowl of udon with grated yam on top please." The Kamado said tiredly.

"…uh, sure thing!" The man said, seeming worried at the exhaustion on the teen's face.

The two siblings sat down on a bench the Udon seller prepared in front of his cart and waited for the food.

"I've never been to a place like this. It's way too crowded." Tanjiro thought out loud. 'I wonder where the Demon Slayer that was supposed to meet me is, though… not that I'm surprised we haven't found each other, this place is too big!'

He looked at his sister who had been bobbing her head up and down to sleepiness for a while now and it seemed to finally caught up to her as she fell sideways and on her brother's shoulder.

The Kamado smiled, thinking of how peaceful she looked.

"Here's your udon with grated yam on top!" The owner said, handing him the bowl of food.

"Thank you very much!"

Tanjiro took a sip of the soup on the bowl and let out a sigh.

'It's good-' His thoughts were stopped when his nose picked up a scent.

A scent that he has smelled before.

'What…?' He didn't even realize that he dropped the bowl of udon, his mind was completely focused on that smell, he took another sniff to make sure he wasn't imagining it and, even though his labored breath, he picked up the scent again.

Without thinking, the red haired teen grabbed his Nichirin Blade and ran.

'This scent! Why would I catch it here all of a sudden?' Even as he wondered this, Tanjiro kept running, making his way back to the streets of Asakusa and moving between, or even shoving around, the people walking in it straight towards the origin of the scent. 'It's the same scent that was left in my house!' The swordsman thought as he kept moving straight towards the source of that scent, not caring about any of the people that looked at him making his mad dash. 'Kibutsuji Muzan!' He finally caught sight of the 'person' giving off that scent. 'Is this the guy giving off that scent?!'

He reached his objective and grabbed the 'person' is shoulder, making him stop walking and look at him over his shoulder.

The man was frowning as he stared at the red haired teen with his red eyes and was wearing a western black suit with a white fedora.

'It's him!' But Tanjiro couldn't care less about what he was wearing or why he was walking around like he was, the only thing he saw was his family's murderer right in front of him and there was only one thing for him to do now.

Placing a hand on his sword's grip, he unsheathed-

"Daddy?" A girl's voice stopped him before he could finish taking his sword out.

Muzan turned around, revealing a little girl on his arms with black hair tied into two braids and wearing an orange western dress.

"Who's that?" She asked innocently.

Tanjiro gasped, frozen in place at the sight.

'He's… he's… he's… he's… he's living here, pretending to be a human!'

"Is there something I can do for you?" Muzan asked with a calm smile after calming down his 'daughter'. "You seem to be quite flustered."

The fact that he looked so human when he asked that only served to fan the fire that is Tanjiro's rage, the only reason why he hasn't cut off his head yet was because of the little girl on his arms.

"Oh my, what's going on?" A woman wearing a white and light blue wester dress with a white hat asked.

"Mother!" The little girl called out in greeting making the woman smile in response.

'They're humans! The girl and the child… their scent is human! Don't you know? Can't you tell? That this guy is a demon? That he devours humans?'

Now Tanjiro felt like puking, he had to cover his mouth with one hand to stop as he saw this, he is not sure what to call this feeling, it was all a mix of the rage he felt towards Muzan, the terror that he could pretend to be a human so well and fear at what could happen with the woman and the child all put together.

"Do you know him?" The woman asked calmly.

"No." Muzan answered. "Much to my consternation, I've never seen this child before." Unbeknownst to anyone, his nails had become sharper and taken on a blue hue. "He must have mistaken me for someone else."

"Oh, you think so?" Just as the woman said this, Muzan slashed at a random man's neck passing by; no one seemed to notice but Tanjiro.

"Dear, what's the matter?" A woman that was walking with him asked, as the man put a hand over the wound on his neck and shivered. "Dear?"

"Stop!" Tanjiro yelled, forcing his way through Muzan and his family but the man suddenly lunged at the woman and bit her shoulder.

The woman, obviously, screamed in pain at the sudden attack and people stopped to watch, most of them in shock and not understanding what was happening.

"Stop!" Except for Tanjiro, who quickly undid the scarf he was using as a hood and ran towards the two.

'Those are...' Muzan thought, narrowing his eyes when he saw the teen's hanafuda earrings.

Tanjiro quickly covered his hand with his scarf and tackled the man to the ground before using the cloth to gag him.

"Dear!" The woman yelled worriedly.

"Ma'am! You need to worry about yourself!" The Kamado said. "Please take a cloth and press down hard on the wound!" That was everything he got to say before he had to focus on keeping the man on the ground, lest he hurts anyone else.

'It's all right; somehow it's going to turn out fine.' Tanjiro thought. 'The wife's wound isn't fatal!' He saw over his shoulder that two men were tending to her wound, doing as he said and covering the wound with a cloth. "Do it harder! Tie it up with a rope!" The swordsman said as he kept struggling with the man. 'It's going to be all right. This man hasn't killed anyone!' Said man kept trying to fight back and get up, Tanjiro was able to see that his eyes had turned red and the veins on his face were bulging. 'Just a second ago, this man was just walking down this street!' As he was thinking that, he noticed that Muzan's scent was beginning to move.

He turned around and saw the demon and his 'family' walking away.

'Damnit!' The Kamado unconsciously strengthened his grip in frustration. 'Dammit! I can't leave this man here!' If he stopped restraining him, then there is no doubt that there would be more injured or worse, that would mean he would truly turn into a demon, he can't risk that.

"Kibutsuji Muzan!" But he couldn't leave it like that. "I'm not letting you get away! No matter where you go!" Even if he couldn't attack, he felt as if his body would explode if he just let him go as is.

"What's the matter with that child?" The woman wondered. "What do you think, Tsukihiko-san?"

'Tsukihiko' didn't answer, his mind was too occupied with the image of those earrings.

"No matter where you go, you're not getting away!" The Kamado continued. "I'll follow you to the ends of Hell, and I SWEAR I'll slice off your head with my blade! I'll never forgive you no matter what!"

Just as he finished his vow, three police officers approached the teen.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Is it a drunk?"

"Kid, step away from that man!"

"I can't!" Tanjiro quickly answered. "Bring some restraints please!"

"Shut up and step away!" One of them said while pulling from his haori.

"Please don't do that!" Tanjiro asked, making sure to not ease up on his hold. "No one can hold this person but me!"

"Move!" The officers weren't listening, though, and continued to pull.

"Please don't do that!" The Kamado repeated.

"Whoa…" An officer gasped. "Look at this guy's face, has he lost his mind?"

"Pull the kid off of him!" Another one ordered.

"Please stop! I don't want this person to kill anyone!" The swordsman pleaded. "Just stay out of my way, will you? I'm begging you!"

"Dammit, look you…" One of the officers raised his baton. "If you're going to keep resisting…"

Tanjiro closed his eyes and braced himself but the hit never came.

"Enchanting Blood. Aroma of Visual Fantasy."

'What's this scent?' By the time he thought that, strange flower patterns formed between him and the officers, eventually surrounding him so no one could see him.

"What's going on? I can't see anything!" One of the officers yelled.

'Is this some kind of attack?' The Demon Slayer thought, looking around. 'If it is, that means trouble!' He looked to his right. 'Is the scent growing stronger?' Among the several flower patterns, two figures began to walk towards him.

The first was a beautiful woman with dark brown hair braided back into a low bun and held together by a floral pin, her eyes were a pale pink at the bottom but faded to a dark lavender the higher they go and is wearing a dark purple kimono decorated with wavy pale purple tree branches and red flowers, a cream colored obi to secure it around her waist, plain white socks and zori sandals.

The second figure is a young boy, looking around Tanjiro's age or a little older with pale skin and bright lavender purple eyes, his hair is short and shades vertically from a dull green to black and is wearing an all-white kimono, over a buttoned up shirt, dark blue pants and, like the woman, zori sandals.

"You still use the term 'person'…" The woman spoke with a calm expression, a stark contrast to the frown on the boy's features. "…to refer to even a transformed demon and you're trying to save him." She raised her arm where some blood was dripping from but the injury was quickly closing itself. "Allow me, then, to lend you a hand."

"But why?" Tanjiro asked in confusion. "You… your scent tells me…"

"That's right. I am…" The woman said, understanding what he wanted to say. "…a demon, but I am also a doctor, and I wish to annihilate that man, Kibutsuji."

* * *

In another part of town.

"Aren't you coming, Daddy?" Haruka asked.

"Daddy has work." 'Tsukihiko' answered with a smile. "I have a business meeting to attend. I'm also concerned about that disturbance just now."

"Dear…"

"Don't worry. I'm only going to speak with the police." He assured his wife. "Now, get in."

The two got on the back seat of a car.

"Daddy, come home soon, okay?" The little girl asked with a smile.

"All right, you be a good girl now." He answered before instructing the driver to get them back to the house.

He saw them go before walking on the opposite direction and down an alley where there shouldn't be any people around.

'That kid…' An image of the Demon Slayer he met not even an hour ago flashed through his mind. 'Why did he have those earrings?' His hands shook unconsciously, a memory of long ago coming back to the surface of his mind.

"What the hell, you bastard?"

'Hmm?' He stopped as he felt someone bump into him and saw a clearly drunk man glaring at him. 'You repugnant sack of flesh.'

"Forgive me." He said instead of his actual thoughts before beginning to walk again; there were more important things to bother with than with insects.

"Hey, come back here!" The drunk yelled, grabbing his shoulder.

'You humans never seem to understand the danger you're in.'

"I'm very sorry, but I happen to be in a hurry, so…"

"What did you say?"

'Are your ears not working properly or is it only your brain?'

"Hey, look at you, decked out in those posh-looking threads." The drunk moved to stand at the side of Muzan. "You piss me off! You and your pale face…" He moved so he was in front of him and grinned. "You look like you're about to fall over dead!"

Muzan didn't register the next words of the drunkard, he simply raised a fist and punched him with the back of his hand, hard enough to make a crack on the wall to the side.

"Yacchan!"

'Hmm? There were more insects here.' The progenitor of the demons realized, calmly walking forward while the woman checked on the already dead man.

"Yacchan! He is dead!" She yelled to the other man, larger than the first one but clearly just as drunk.

"You bastard!" The drunk raised a fist- and that was the last action he would take in this life, since the next moment he was in the air, high enough to surpass the roofs of the surrounding houses, courtesy of a kick from the demon with the fedora.

The man puked blood before gravity did its job and brought him back to the ground, although he was dead long before he crashed against it.

The woman simply stared at the surreal sight while trembling but her eyes quickly went to the perpetrator as he moved towards her and kneeled near her face.

"Does my complexion look unhealthy to you?" He asked, moving a hand to the woman's face. "Is my face pale?" The demon asked again, not caring that he didn't get an answer, as he continued to stare at the woman, who was frozen in place from fear. "Do I look sickly to you? Do I look like I'm not long for this world? Do I look like I'm about to die?" He moved the hand that was on the woman's face back. "Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong." Muzan hissed. "I'm a living being who's infinitely close to perfection."

The first demon raised his right index finger and the finger-nail grew sharp and turned a blue hue, he then stabbed the woman in the brain with it, deep enough that almost half his finger was inside her skull.

"What do you think will happen if I keep flooding you with my blood?" Even as he asked this, the effects were beginning to show.

The woman's veins were growing visible and her complexion was turning a dark-grey coloration, then her body began to convulse.

"The human body is unable to withstand the speed of transformation." At this point, the woman's entire body was the color of ash and blood was beginning to flow from her pores while her eyes had turned completely red. "And its cells are destroyed." As if on cue, the woman's body began to convulse further, even bulging in unnatural places before it literally _melted _into what could be described as a bag full of flesh and then completely disintegrating.

Not the least bit interested in the sight, Muzan got back to his feet and snapped his fingers.

Two figures suddenly appeared behind him, bowing.

"Bring me the head of the Demon Slayer who wears hanafuda-like earrings; understood?"

"As you wish."

"Your wish is our command." The two answered before disappearing the same way they appeared.

Once Muzan was sure they were gone he allowed himself the action that he was trying to prevent.

Tremble.

"Those earrings…" He thought out loud, the image of another person with those earrings and his red katana clear on his mind, the one and _only_ memory that can bring any fear into his being.

Allowing himself a moment to recompose himself, he sent a telepathic order to her subordinate with the biwa.

_DLING_

Just as he expected, a door opened in front of him and he passed through.

The biwa demon, Nakime, is one of his personal favorites due to how useful her ability is, she commands an entire fortress that can be altered and moved at will making it the perfect headquarters.

And right now, he has a very specific place of those headquarters that he wishes to go to.

Nakime obeyed his wish and played her instrument once again, opening a door directly to that location.

The room was large, covered in pillars and paper separators but lacked anything else.

Two figures were in it, both of them male with long spiky black hair kept in a ponytail and wearing a kimono.

They seemed to have been exchanging blows before Muzan entered.

One of the figures immediately sheathed his weapon and sat in seiza before bowing to him.

The second one did the same, but it took him considerably longer as his body seemed to be trembling with each movement, as if his body was resisting his own order.

About fifteen seconds later, both of them were bowing.

"I just met a Demon Slayer that wore hanafuda earrings." Muzan said with his eyes wide open without blinking and glaring at the two figures.

"You said… hanafuda earrings?" The first one asked, some surprise on his voice.

"That's correct." The first demon answered before directing his attention to the second figure. "Care to enlighten us as to how that's possible?"

There was no answer, even as the figure continued to tremble.

"Answer me!" Muzan took a step forw- _SHING_

He immediately jumped backwards, the second figure's quick draw only managing to cut his suit.

The red-eyed demon snarled, his teeth grinding against each other.

"It's been centuries, accept your defeat instead of continuing your unsightly struggle!"

The second figure raised his head.

And met Muzan's glare with his own.

* * *

**Now who, oh who could this be?**

**Okay, I am genuinely curious, did anyone expect this? At all?**

**Really, I want to know if I'm able to catch you off guard, haha.**

**With that said, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to leave a review! They're the fuel that accelerates my writing!**

**Until next time.**


	12. Temari demon and Arrow Demon

**Temari demon and Arrow Demon**

**Guest review answer corner.**

**.**

**The Joining: Can't really comment on it without giving spoilers sadly; suffice to say, I already have plans about what's going to happen with him.**

**Thanks for the review, until next time.**

**Guest: I don't remember giving any names… ok I can't keep that BS going, haha. Like I told The Joining, I have plans but I can't say much else without giving spoilers.**

**Thanks for the review!**

**.**

**Alright, first of all, Happy New Year everyone! (Although it's already two weeks into the year, haha)**

**I hope you had a good time, I know I did, with that said let's start this year right with a new chapter.**

**Before that, though, I want to thank everyone who reviewed since last chapter is currently the chapter with the most reviews for this story!**

**Technically, it is tied with chapter 6 but there is one review there that I don't count because… I don't want to bring it up again; suffice to say, I have my reasons and let's just leave it at that.**

**So, once again, thanks for all the reviews; I hope I can break that record in the following chapters.**

**With all that said, I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Same as last year.**

* * *

"Now listen to me! Here's the deal! My point is this, okay?"

Tanjiro could do nothing but be silent as the owner of the udon cart continued on his tirade, he _did_ run away without paying him and even breaking one of his bowls after all, not that he had the intention of doing that but when he smelled Muzan everything else simply faded from his mind.

"It's not about the money!" The bald man yelled. "What I can't forgive is your lack of intent to eat my udon, all right?"

"I'm so sorry! Please serve me another bowl!" The Kamado answered, standing completely straight and making a mental note to also pay for the one he didn't eat.

"So, you're gonna eat it?"

"Yes!"

"You're definitely gonna eat it?" The udon cook pressured, moving closer to him.

"Yes, I shall!"

"Okay!" He said with a nod before turning towards the other person there. "You, too! If you're gonna have udon, take off that bamboo thingie first! What is that thing anyway?"

Nezuko could only stare, looking a bit lost, as the udon seller told her to grab the chopsticks in his hand.

Knowing that his sister can't really answer, Tanjiro quickly moved to his side and grabbed the hand that had the chopsticks.

"I'd like a bowl of udon!" He then raised two fingers. "I'd like two bowls of udon!" The red haired swordsman declared.

"R-right." The cook answered, a bit taken aback by the younger male's sudden pressure.

A few minutes later, the two bowls were ready and Tanjiro quickly devoured them, surprising the bald man.

"Thank you very much for the meal! It was delicious!" He said before walking away, having already paid for the food.

"As long as you get it, it's all good!" The cook said with a smile. "Thanks for your business!"

.

"Sorry about that, Nezuko; leaving you behind like that…" The older Kamado said once they were out of the udon seller's earshot.

The younger one suddenly stopped and glared forward.

"What's wrong, Nezuko?"

Tanjiro followed her sight and saw the boy that was with that 'demon but also doctor', in her own words, and approached him with Nezuko in tow.

"So, you've been waiting for us?" Tanjiro asked.

"Because I was told to bring you to her." The boy answered, his expression set in a scowl.

"I could've tracked you by scent." The demon slayer answered.

"She's in a place that's under a cloaking spell. No way you could find it."

"Cloaking?" Tanjiro repeated. 'Is it maybe a demon art?'

"Anyway…" The boy spoke, interrupting his train of thought, and pointed at Nezuko. "Isn't that woman a demon? And an eyesore to boot."

'Eyesore?' The Kamado repeated in his head. 'Eyesore? Does he mean 'ugly'? Who?' He wondered who he could be talking about and, a few second later, it finally clicked. 'Nezuko?!' The Kamado turned to his sister and then back to the boy, getting up on his face and with his index finger raised as if he was about to give an important lesson to a child.

"Who in their right mind would call her an eyesore?" Tanjiro yelled while scowling and a tick mark appeared on his forehead. "Just take a good look at her features!" The swordsman moved back and used his hands to 'frame' his sister as if showing a piece of art. "She was the beauty of our hometown! Our Nezuko!"

"…"

"…"

"Let's go." The boy said simply, turning around to give them his back.

"Sure, we'll go, but still…" Tanjiro continued while moving a confused Nezuko along with him. "No way is she an eyesore! Not on your life!"

'He'll tire himself out eventually.' The demon thought as he continued walking, muting the swordsman's protests.

"Take a look at her where there's a bit more light!" He continued. "Come on, let's go over there!"

.

.

Turns out that Tanjiro can be truly persistent, even when the other party just ignores him; during the entire trip to wherever he was been taken to, the red haired teen continued to talk about how his sister could never be an eyesore and that he just has to see her better.

'If Tamayo-sama hadn't asked me to take you to her I would have ditched you a while ago! No, I'll correct that; I wouldn't even have bothered to find you!' He thought as they finally reached their destination.

To anyone else, it looked like a dead end where you would have to turn either left or right, but not to him.

"Oh, I know what it is!" Tanjiro continued. "It's this muzzle, right?" He pointed to said object. "It might be because of this muzzle!" He grabbed his sister's face with both hands and stared at the bamboo piece. "I'd like you to behold Nezuko without the muzzle!" The swordsman was considering taking it off for a moment just to prove his point but suddenly the demon disappeared, Tanjiro actually moved Nezuko's head at the same time he turned to that direction out of reflex.

"Hurry it up! While no one's around." The boy said, his head appearing from the wall.

Tanjiro touched the wall with one hand as an experiment and it simply passed through as if nothing was there, so he took a few steps forward and reached the 'other side'.

Inside the place was a house, it looked to be western in design, at least looking at it from the outside, with a paper with a strange symbol that resembled an eye apparently glued to the roof above the entrance and in the middle of the 'square' that is the area inside the wall with trees surrounding the outer walls.

"There's a house behind the dead end!" Tanjiro yelled in shock.

"Get over here!" The demon ordered. "Listen, make sure you don't offend that person in any way." He suddenly dashed and got up on the Demon Slayer's face. "Personally, I couldn't care less what happens to you but I brought you here because she insisted!"

"R-right." Tanjiro answered.

The boy then turned around and guided the Kamado siblings through the house, eventually stopping in front of a door that Tanjiro could tell had the woman that helped him on the other side thanks to his nose; as well as one other person, a human.

Knocking twice, his nose was proved right when the woman's voice was heard.

"Come in."

The boy opened the door.

"I have returned." He announced.

"Welcome back." The woman responded, still wearing the same kimono and hairstyle but with a white medical gown over it.

On a bed behind her was the woman that was injured when Muzan had turned her husband into a demon.

Aside from the bed and the two occupants, there was a single closed window, a desk with some medical supplies and books on top and two extra chairs.

"I'm sorry that I left you to take care of things just now." Tanjiro apologized after the three entered the room. "How is the lady?"

"She'll be just fine." The black haired woman assured him. "Unfortunately, I have to keep her husband restrained in the basement." She added, looking sadly at the sleeping woman.

"Isn't treating human wounds unbearable for you?" The older Kamado said. "Gh-" And immediately got hit by the other male in the room on his chest.

"You think demons treat humans while choking back their own drool at the smell of blood?" He asked with a scowl.

Looking down in shame, the red haired teen apologized.

"Stop it, why would you resort to violence?" The woman asked in a disapproving tone.

The boy looked down but didn't apologize or make any comments.

"I never introduced myself, did I? My name is Tamayo." The woman said, looking at Tanjiro. "That boy is Yushiro, I hope that you'll be his friend."

The swordsman made an uneasy expression at the last part and turned to look at Yushiro.

He still was looking to the ground but seemed to be restraining himself from saying something like 'I would never be friends with him'.

'I don't think that's gonna happen.' Tanjiro thought.

"It's not unbearable, you know." Tamayo spoke again, answering the demon slayer's, admittedly, insensitive question. "I believe it's much easier for me than normal demons because I've tweaked my body considerably." She finished, moving a hand to her chest. "I've also removed Kibutsuji's curse."

"Curse? T-tweaked your body?" The Kamado repeated, confused at her words.

Instead of answering, Tamayo took off her medical gown and moved towards another door.

"Come this way." She said.

.

The four moved to another room; this one was more 'refined' in a sense and looked more comfortable to stay at than the one before, with a picture of a mountain hanging in the wall, several lit candles, including the ones on a chandelier, some flower vases as well as a desk, a library full of books and some other furniture such as a chest of drawers.

Tanjiro and Tamayo sat in seiza opposite to each other while Yushiro sat to the side and between them, closer to Tamayo than the Demon Slayer.

"Hey, Nezuko, that's bad manners!" While the younger Kamado laid down face up on the tatami without a care in the world.

Tamayo smiled gently at the scene.

"It's quite alright, please make yourselves at home."

"Sorry." Tanjiro said nonetheless.

"Now then, allow me to continue." The woman with the purple kimono began. "I adjusted our bodies so that we can live without devouring humans, a small amount of blood is all we need."

"Blood? You mean…" Tanjiro trailed off, wanting to wait for an explanation instead of risking making another insensitive comment.

"You may find it distasteful, but what I do is buy blood under the guise of transfusions from those unable to make ends meet; of course, no more than would impair them."

'I see; so, that's why I'm not picking up that strange scent unique to demons from these two. But they do need human blood after all.' The red haired teen thought with a frown. 'If blood is all they need, then Nezuko…'

"Yushiro can get by with even less blood." Tamayo continued, having paused to let Tanjiro process her words. "I'm the one who turned him into a demon."

"Eh? You did that?" Tanjiro blurted out without realizing, looking at Yushiro and then back to Tamayo. "But… eh?"

While this was happening, Nezuko continued to lie down on the floor, moving as if scratching her back.

"You're right." The demon continued. "It's generally held that no one but Kibutsuji can reproduce demons. That's more or less accurate." She explained while Tanjiro tried to process the fact that Muzan, apparently, isn't the only one that can make demons. "After more than 200 years, I was only able to transform Yushiro into a demon after all."

"Two… Two hundred years…" Tanjiro muttered. "You were only able to transform Yushiro after more than 200 years?" He almost yelled in astonishment. "Exactly how old are you, Tamayo-san?"

That comment got him several hits to his thorax, courtesy of Yushiro who kept his fingers extended while aiming always at the same spot.

"Don't ask a lady her age, you ill-mannered scoundrel!"

While some might be surprised that, of everything he heard, that was the part that Tanjiro decided to ask about, he simply believes that there will be an explanation for everything else.

He wants to believe that these two, even though they are demons, are different from most other demons. They helped him and seem to bear no ill will towards him or other humans; the benefit of the doubt is the least that they deserve and, in his mind, denying them that would be the same as denying Nezuko.

"Yushiro. The next time you hit that boy, I'll make you regret it!" Tamayo warned him.

"Yes, ma'am." Almost as if he had teleported, Yushiro was suddenly sitting in seiza again. 'She's beautiful even when she's angry!'

Tanjiro coughed a bit to recover while Nezuko moved to lie on her side while frowning towards the male demon.

"There's one thing I'd like to clear up with you." The black haired woman continued once it looked like Tanjiro had recovered. "I'm not trying to create more demons. I only perform the procedure on the terminally-ill or those so gravely injured that they don't have long to live." She explained. "And in those cases, I always ask them beforehand if they wish to live on even as demons."

The Demon Slayer closed his eyes, the other two thinking that he must be considering Tamayo's words while, in reality, he was focusing on his sense of smell.

'The scent she's giving off is pure and devoid of deception.' Tanjiro thought with relief. 'She's someone I can trust.'

Having ascertained that she is trustworthy Tanjiro asked the question that has been going through his mind since hearing her talk about not needing to eat humans.

"Tamayo-san, is there a way to return a transformed demon back to human form?"

'…what is she doing?' Yushiro couldn't help but think as he saw Nezuko, still lying down on the floor, now waving her legs in the air. 'Does she not realize that this is about her? How limited is her thought process?'

"There is a way to turn a demon back into a human." Tamayo answered.

"Please tell me how!" Tanjiro approached her-

"Don't you dare…" Yushiro grabbed his arm, passed below it and spun him backwards to make him fall on his back. "…get so close to Tamayo-sama!"

"Yushiro…" The owner of the house trailed off, clearly unhappy with what her companion just did.

Once again, Yushiro seemed to teleport back to his spot, sitting in seiza.

"Yes, ma'am! I only threw him. Tamayo-sama. I did not hit him." He quickly defended.

"You mustn't do either." She answered, still upset.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch." Tanjiro muttered, it didn't hurt much, thanks in no small part to his training with Urokodaki to learn to break his fall, but he was still caught somewhat off-guard. "Please tell me how." Tanjiro repeated after recovering, more calmly than the first time.

"For any kind of wound, there's always some kind of medicine or treatment. At this time I'm unable to turn a demon back into a human, but surely, that, too…"

"Tamayo-san… how long have you been trying to turn demons back into humans?"

"…far more than what a human life-span would have allowed me to." She answered, Tanjiro catching a whiff of sadness after that sentence. "I will confess this to you, although it's been a long time, I also ate humans once."

'This scent…'

"Tamayo-san… no, never mind."

"What is it? Please, feel free to speak your mind." She assured him.

"When you turned into a demon…you ate someone close to you, didn't you?"

That sentence caught the seemingly imperturbable Tamayo off-guard, her eyes widening and her neutral expression replaced with a shocked one.

"You-!"

"Stop." She cut off Yushiro, giving him a sharp look that made him straighten his back. "How could you tell?" Tamayo asked, schooling her expression back to a neutral one.

"Your scent when you said that… it was one of the saddest I have smelled." The Kamado answered.

"…her scent?" Yushiro asked, for once looking at the red haired teen with a curious frown instead of an angry one.

"I have a really good sense of smell; one of the reasons I decided to trust you is because I smelled no lies in your words." He explained, pointing at his nose.

"…you are correct." The woman said; considering what she was, learning of his unusual sense of smell, while surprising, is not something to be shocked about. "I… would prefer not to talk about it but you are correct."

"No, I apologize for bringing it up."

"…do you despise me for having eaten humans?"

"No." Tanjiro answered immediately, surprising her slightly. "What happened to that couple a few hours ago is proof that demons aren't inherently evil… the one to blame is Kibutsuji Muzan." His sight went towards his sister, becoming softer. "And you stopped eating humans; hating you just because you are a demon would be like hating my sister and I will never do that."

"Speaking of your sister." Tamayo began, making the teen look back at her. "Has she ever eaten any humans?" She asked, very softly.

"No." He answered in the same tone. "This is just a theory that my master came up with but it seems she's able to recover her energy by sleeping instead of eating humans. After… after she was turned she attacked me but then came back to her senses, she didn't attack me or anyone else since and when I began my training she slept for two years without waking up." A flash of pain crossed the swordsman's features, remembering how worried he was at that time.

"Two years?" Yushiro repeated, half in surprise and half for confirmation.

"Yes."

"Then, I would like to ask for your help."

This time, the two Kamado siblings seemed to direct their attention at Tamayo, although the only indication of that from Nezuko was that she stopped swinging her legs and went perfectly still.

"Both Yushiro and I are dedicated to finding a treatment to turn demons back into humans." She began. "But to produce such an elixir, it is necessary to study the blood of numerous demons. So I have two favors to ask of you." She fixed her sight on the Kamado's red irises. "One, permission to study your sister's blood. Two, to retrieve blood samples from demons as closely related to Kibutsuji as possible." Her eyes went towards Nezuko. "Nezuko-san's current condition is extremely rare and unique. I understand that she was asleep for two years and I believe that her body underwent changes during that time. Normally, any demon that went that long without consuming the flesh or blood of a human or beast would unquestionably go berserk."

'Now that I think about it… the demons at the Final Selection probably went through that.' Tanjiro thought, remembering how most demons there barely talked.

"And yet, surprisingly, Nezuko-san shows none of those signs. This miracle will be the key to finding a solution."

The red haired Demon Slayer broke eye contact and looked at his sister, extending a hand towards her that she quickly grasped with both of hers, been careful not to hurt him with her claws, and pulled it closer to her.

"The other request I have for you is a harsh one." Tamayo continued. "By 'demons closely related to Kibutsuji', I meant demons whose powers are more on par with that of Kibutsuji himself." She explained, her tone giving away how difficult what she is saying will be. "It won't be easy to extract blood from such demons. Are you still willing to go along with my requests?"

Tanjiro didn't have to think about it, one look at Nezuko was enough for him to resolve himself.

"If there's no other way, then I'll do it." He began, moving his hand towards Nezuko and her immediately grabbing it with both of hers. "If it means you're going to research all these demons' blood and create this medicine… if that happens, that means it won't just be Nezuko." He looked back at Tamayo with a wide smile. "Lots of other people will be saved, too, right?"

For the second time, Tamayo's imperturbable aura disappeared, seemingly taken aback by the young swordsman' words, before her lips curved upward in the biggest smile Tanjiro has seen from her so far.

"That's right." She answered quietly.

'She has a beautiful smile.' Tanjiro thought with a light blush, but quickly looked away when Yushiro got in his personal space, glaring.

'I know that Tamayo-sama is beautiful, she looks beautiful today and she will surely look beautiful tomorrow as well but her beauty is not for you to enjoy!' The young demon thought while growling but held his tongue. 'That's-'

"Get down!" Yushiro suddenly yelled, moving towards Tamayo.

A moment later, two temari balls pierced through the walls of the house, making Tanjiro quickly move to cover Nezuko while the balls continued to bounce around the room the four were in.

* * *

A few minutes earlier, outside of the area where Tamayo's house was hidden.

Two figures were seen walking the otherwise empty street, the sound of their footsteps accompanied by the sound of a bell coming from the temari ball one of them kept bouncing off the ground.

The one with the temari is a pale, almost grey, skinned woman with bright hazel eyes with cat-like pupils and black hair with orange-colored ends, the bangs cover her forehead and the ends looks like paintbrushes. She is wearing a pair of long silver earrings with an orange kimono that matches the color of the ends of her hair with a large black kimono jacket on top of that one.

The other figure is a man, also grey-skinned but with short, completely, black hair and, despite his eyes being completely shut, he doesn't seem to have a problem walking. His outfit consists of a black and yellow kimono with a brown sash and a blue pearl necklace.

Without saying anything, the man raised his hands, revealing that on the palms of them were a set of eyes, the sclera of them was green while the eye was orange and instead of a pupil there was a small black arrow.

He brought his hands down to the floor as if scanning it.

"See anything?" The woman asked.

"I can see." He answered, the eyes on his palms moving around and the arrows changing directions. "This is it. This is it." He raised his left hand, with the palm pointing forward. "Making a huge turn over there. There are three of them and one's carrying some kind of big box." He informed with a wide grin.

"How should we kill them, I wonder." The woman said, still bouncing her temari ball, before letting out a chuckle. "I can feel the flow of power. Because of all the blood he shared with me."

Moving his right hand so the palm was pointing at his companion, the other figure said.

"Of course we're going to slay them vindictively."

* * *

Back to the present.

"Did you decide how to kill them?" The man with eyes on his palms asked with a laugh as his companion caught her two temari balls that she had thrown towards the house with a flourish.

"Vindictively, of course!" The woman answered with a sadistic grin before throwing the balls once more.

They continued to rampage through the house, breaking several rooms as well as the walls outside and the paper that Tanjiro noticed when they first arrived.

Having finished their sweep, the temari balls came back to their owner and she caught them with a laugh, as if she was playing a game.

"You were right, Yahaba! A building just appeared out of nowhere!" She said.

"Hmm, the handiwork of a Blood Demon Arts wielder adept at hiding objects." Yahaba answered as if analyzing the situation. "And is the demon hunter accompanied by a demon?" He asked with a frown, more to himself than his partner. "What's going on here?"

"Kahahaha, isn't this fun?" The temari demon asked with a hearty laugh while she bounced her balls off the ground, ignoring Yahaba's words.

"Still, I have to say, Susamaru…" The male demon began, one of his palms pointed in her direction to 'look' at her. "Your way of doing things is so immature. So careless. You splattered me! You splattered my kimono with dust!" He clicked his tongue in annoyance but his expression remained mostly neutral.

"Oh, stop whining!" Susamaru answered good-naturedly. "We found them right away thanks to my temari, so who cares?" She stopped bouncing her balls and swung her right arm backwards. "And now we can have tons of fun!" The demon declared, throwing the temari in her right hand first and quickly following with the one in her left.

Unlike the first two times, the temari just hit one of the walls before coming back to their owner.

"Tch, you've gone and splattered me again!"

"You're so uptight, your kimono isn't the least bit soiled." Susamaru said without looking at him. "And besides…" Her hazel eyes focused on the opening she had just made on the house, where Tanjiro was holding Nezuko close to his body to protect her. "Found 'em! Found 'em!" She declared happily.

'A temari.' Tanjiro's mind had shifted to combat mode the moment Yushiro yelled his warning but, while he could follow the object that was destroying the house, he was unable to tell what it was other than it was rather small and round shaped. 'So she caused all this damage by throwing those temari.' Now that he could see them clearly on the demon's hands, he could identify the 'weapons' easily, not surprised that there was a demon that could use a literal toy as a weapon after everything else he has seen.

'That woman… is she one of Kibutsuji's minions?' Yushiro wondered while shielding Tamayo from harm.

Letting out another laugh, Susamaru threw the temari once again, the balls moving at strange and impossible angles as they continued to cause havoc in Tamayo's home.

"Tamayo-sama!" Yushiro yelled, moving to stand between her and one of the Temari balls, his left arm raised to block. 'Wha-' But, instead of clashing with his arm, the temari swerved at an impossible angle, stopped just before touching the ground and then launched itself towards Yushiro's head; literally making it explode on impact.

"Yushiro-san!" Tanjiro yelled in horror, as Tamayo grabbed Yushiro's body before it could hit the ground. "Dammit!" But sadly, he didn't have the luxury to worry about them. "Nezuko! Take the lady sleeping in the back room somewhere safe outside!"

The younger Kamado nodded, her mind focused now that they were under attack, and was about to dash towards the woman.

"It's too dangerous outside!" Tamayo yelled before Nezuko could move. "We have a basement, so take her there!"

"Understood! Nezuko!" Tanjiro said, his sister nodded once again before moving to do as told.

Having taken care of that, Tanjiro shifted his guard towards the two demons outside the house, keeping an eye out for the temari that continued to rampage around him.

"Hahahaha, that's one down!" Susamaru cheered.

'She's giving off a totally different scent than any other demons!' The red haired swordsman realized now that he focused. 'Is it stronger? It's a really thick scent! It feels so heavy once it enters my lungs!'

Having caught her weapons once again, Susamaru bounced them while looking at the teen.

"The demon hunter wearing hanafuda-like earrings… it's you, isn't it?"

The question caught the Kamado off-guard but quickly thought of a way to use that information.

'If I'm the one they're after...'

"Tamayo-san, please find a place to hide! They seem to be targeting me!"

"Tanjiro-san." Tamayo began, looking at Yushiro's body. "I want you to fight without worrying about us. We'll be fine without your protection." She raised her eyes to meet his. "Since we're demons."

Although he understood, Tanjiro will admit that he doesn't like the way she said that 'they're demons', as if that made them unworthy of protection.

Either way, he doesn't have the time to discuss with her, as the temari demon threw one of her temari against him.

It was a completely straight throw, albeit one moving at a speed unthinkable for the object in question.

'That temari will only swerve if I dodge it.' The Kamado thought calmly, taking a deep breath to prepare his technique. 'Of the ten forms… the fastest thrusting technique…' Holding his sword with just his right hand, he moved the arm backwards with the tip of the blade pointing at the incoming projectile. 'Total Concentration! Water Breathing!' Seventh Form, Piercing Rain Drop, curve!' Tanjiro's sword made contact with the ball, first stopping it and then piercing through it.

'Oh, so you thrust at the curve diagonally to soften the temari's blow.' Susamaru thought, seeing how her weapon was stopped. 'But…' She grinned.

The temari that had been completely stopped began to shake and moved towards Tanjiro, hitting him on the head.

It did little more than bump him since he had completely killed its momentum before but it was still a strange move.

'How can that temari move like that? It swerved unnaturally when it struck Yushiro-san as well!' Tanjiro thought back to the weapon's movements, taking aside the fact that they were able to cause all of that damage to the house, the way they moved was the most strange thing. It would make sense if the demon was throwing it in a certain way to make it spin but back when it hit Yushiro and now when he had stabbed through it, the ball had completely stopped moving and then began again.

"Yushiro!" While the demon slayer was trying to understand what was happening, Tamayo called out to her companion.

A moment later, the demon's head began to regrow, shocking the red haired swordsman.

"Ta… Tamayo-sama!" Yushiro began, his head regenerated enough for him to talk but still missing everything from his nose up. "Didn't I tell you? That we shouldn't get involved with that demon hunter! From the start!" He yelled in an almost recriminatory tone. "My Blindfold technique is still a work in progress! I know you're well aware of that yourself! I may be able to conceal the presence of buildings and people, their scent, but it's not like I can mask their very existence!"

Tanjiro absently thought that Yushiro's technique must have been the reason he couldn't smell these two demons, something that he should have been able to given how strong their scent was, before they attacked.

"The greater our numbers, the more traces we'll leave, and the greater the odds that Kibutsuji will discover us!"

"Anyone who ruins the time I spend alone with you…" Yushiro continued, his head almost completely regenerated. "I despise such people!" The demon declared with the veins in his head bulging and an expression that could only be described as murderous. "I despise them with passion! IT'S UNFORGIVABLE!"

Despite the scream that the two enemy demons certainly heard, Susamaru simply laughed.

"Hey, he's babbling!" She said, throwing away her black kimono jacket and undoing the upper part of her orange one so it fell down, revealing most of her upper body saved for her chest that was covered with a sash. "What fun is this! What fun is this! To be killed by me, one of the Twelve Demon Moons… you should be honored!"

"Twelve Demon Moons?" Tanjiro repeated, glancing at Tamayo to see if she knows what that means.

"They serve directly under Kibutsuji!" She informed him.

The swordsman quickly looked back towards his opponent when he heard her laughing and-

'She grew more arms!' He thought in shock when Susamaru grew two extra pair of arms. 'Not only that, she now has 6 temaris.' He prepared his guard as the demon bounced her weapons off the floor a few times before catching them all with its many arms.

"Now then, let's keep playing! Until morning comes! Until you die!" She threw all 6 of her temari with the last part of her sentence, forcing Tanjiro to dodge.

He side-stepped two of the temari balls, ducked beneath a third one, jumped slightly off the ground and spun in mid-air to avoid a fourth one, the fifth one he was forced to block with his sword, managing to deflect the attack and he quickly moved his head to the side to avoid the sixth one.

'Even if I dodge, I can't do anything unless I get closer to her.' He deflected another one of the balls only for it to swerve in that unnatural way they tend to, stopping before hitting the ceiling and doing a quick turn to its left, so they were moving back towards Tanjiro. 'Again! Even without hitting anything they changed trajectory.' Not having time to dodge or deflect, the red haired teen quickly slashed at it, cutting the temari in two. 'From behind.' Not stopping the momentum from his first slash, he quickly cut another temari in two pieces.

But, instead of stopping, the four halves stood still in mid-air for a moment before continuing their path and hitting the demon hunter.

'If I go ahead and slash them, it blunts the blow, but then they hit me anyway!' He thought with a grunt, as the two destroyed temari disappeared.

Not allowing the hits to stop him, Tanjiro quickly spun to the side, avoiding two more temari, then jumped backwards to avoid the path of another one; yet one more was moving towards the spot he was going to, so he spun his body backwards to avoid it, landing with his left hand and immediately using it to propel himself further to avoid the next. 'Don't panic, analyze the situation and think of a solution.' The swordsman thought to himself as he continued to weave his way through the onslaught. 'There are two different scents of blood. That meant there are two demons. Where are they?' Still moving around to avoid Susamaru's weapons, Tanjiro began to sniff them out. 'There is the demon that throws the temari outside, I can see her, where is the other one?' Blocking out the scent of the temari demon, Tanjiro focused on the other scent. 'It's above ground, behind that demon… there, the trees!' He realized as he deflected another hit. 'But even if I know where they are…'

Three of the temari moved towards Yushiro and Tamayo, the former trying to cover the latter as a human shield with little success as the three weapons hit them.

Yushiro was hit once again on the head, although it was more of a glancing blow this time, which only took part of his right side almost taking the eye as well, still a mortal injury for a human but nothing that won't heal for a demon.

Despite Yushiro's intentions, the temari also hit Tamayo, taking a chunk of the left side of her head and her left side, the momentum sending her crashing to the ground.

"Tamayo-san! Yushiro-san!" Tanjiro called out, trying to rush towards them only for the temari to force him to stop in his tracks. 'It's no use! I don't have time to protect them!'

"We'll be healed soon enough! So don't worry!" The black haired woman assured him, even as blood kept pouring from her wounds.

"Hey! Moron demon hunter!" Yushiro called out, holding the place where the temari took a chunk of his head. "If you look at the arrows, you can tell which direction they're going! Dodge the arrows!"

"Arrows?" Tanjiro asked. 'Those temari don't have arrows on them.'

"Seriously, you can't even see them?" The demon thought out loud, clearly annoyed, as he took a piece of paper from a pocket in his kimono. "I'm going to lend you my sense of sight! That should at least enable you to behead that temari woman!" Both the paper and Yushiro's left eye were lighted up in a light-green hue, the green haired demon then threw the paper towards Tanjiro, it landed neatly on his forehead and shone once more before the same eye-like symbol that was on the paper on top of the entrance of the house appeared on it.

Tanjiro didn't feel any different after Yushiro 'lend him his sight' but the effects were immediate.

'I can see them!' He thought.

Before the temari moved in any direction, there was a red arrow that guided them by moving through it before them.

'She was using these arrows to control the trajectory of the temari!' Now that he could see the attacks coming before they even hit, Tanjiro was able to dodge them with more ease, not even needing to deflect or cut the incoming projectiles.

"Thanks, Yushiro-san! I can see the arrows now, too!" The Kamado thanked him.

"Then, hurry up and defeat her!" He answered, his head beginning to regenerate.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro said, seeing his sister walk into the room after moving the injured woman to safety. "Let's go outside! Take care of the demon up in the tree!"

The younger Kamado nodded once and quickly jumped through the hole Susamaru had made before jumping over her and towards the trees.

The demon's temari also exited the house and returned to their owner followed by Tanjiro.

"I'm the one you want to take on!" The swordsman declared, preparing his sword to guard against his enemy.

"The demon hunter wearing hanafuda-like earrings…" The hazel eyed demon trailed off, not paying attention to his declaration, before grinning. "No question, I'm going to bring that head of yours to him."

'This demon is without a doubt the strongest I have faced so far.' Tanjiro thought, tightening the grip on his sword.

"Khehehehe, what fun this is!" Susamaru yelled happily as she threw all six of her weapons back at him.

* * *

**Alright, another one down.**

**I'll be honest, the original idea was to have the entire fight against Susamaru and Yahaba over in this chapter but it was getting WAY too long; plus, I have a certain twist that… I feel it would ruin the flow if I write it in the middle of the fight.**

**What does that mean, you ask? Well my dear reader, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out.**

**Once again, thank you for all the reviews from last chapter; let's see if I manage to break that record on this one.**

**To that end, please don't forget to review!**

**Until next time.**


	13. Atoning

**Atoning**

**Guest review answer corner!**

**.**

**Guest: There wasn't much to modify on that chapter except to change the conversations a bit so it makes sense for Tamayo and Yushiro to know about certain things. For example; in canon, it seems that they just know about Nezuko been asleep for two years even when Tanjiro never told them that (or at least, there wasn't any scene with him explaining that).**

**In all honesty, the last chapter could be considered the first half of one, with this one being the second half of the chapter.**

**With all that said, thanks for the review!**

**.**

**New chapter ready!**

**But before that I have an **

**IMPORTANT QUESTION!**

**So, not related to this story but I want to ask, would anyone be interested in a TanKana week?**

**If you have read any of my other works for KnY then you may know that I really like that pairing, if not then I'll tell you know, I REALLY like that pairing, haha.**

**Jokes aside, I know there was a TanKana week on the works some time before but its twitter account was suddenly deleted and the whole thing seemed to get cancelled.**

**In any case, I thought that maybe I could make one for around the end of February but I genuinely don't know the first thing about how to make a 'pairing name' week or how to promote it so then I thought 'maybe my readers can help!' which brings us to this note here.**

**If any of you would be willing to help me set it up or have any sort of advice, want to help promote it, or anything related; please let me know by contacting me, either by sending me a PM to my fanfiction . net or Wattpad accounts. Both have the same name, Manu259.**

**I am also considering making a Discord server about it… but, like with the TanKana week, I don't know how to make one (nothing that a google search wouldn't fix I'm sure but I don't want to half-ass it and end up making a mess of things); that being said, I may give it a shot if enough people ask for it, I do think it would be easier to organize things that way, but I think I may be getting ahead of myself now so I'll just wait to hear your responses for the moment.**

**Thank you for your attention and without further ado, on with the chapter!**

**I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

* * *

Kibutsuji Muzan walked through Asakusa; his 'conversation' at Nakime's fortress hadn't gotten him anything, which put him in a bit of a sour mood, to say the least.

If anyone was up in the area he was in and had seen his expression, they would have immediately shivered in fear and done their best to stand as far away from him as possible; unless they were drunk, stupid, had a death wish or any mix of those options.

'Yahaba and Susamaru have engaged that Demon Slayer.' He thought, momentarily linking his senses with his two assassins and severing said link just as quickly. 'If those earrings mean what I think it means then they won't last but they should be a good distraction and buy me enough time to clean my tracks.' With that thought, he stopped.

He was at the entrance of a Western type house, the place his 'family' called home.

Two stories tall and large enough to house at least 10 people in relative comfort; light could be seen coming out from the windows, meaning his 'wife' and 'daughter' were still awake and waiting for him.

'Foolish.' Muzan thought. Unlike him, humans need sleep, what good comes from staying up late? It is even detrimental to their health so he was genuinely baffled when they would stay up and wait for him to arrive when he had to 'work late'.

He never showed it of course; thanks to literally centuries of experience he was able to act as a human with the greatest of ease, fooling those two without issue. His acting ability was not limited to only his 'true' form as a man around his mid-twenties but also as a child or woman if the need arises.

It wasn't always like that, the first few times he tried to act as a human he ended up losing his temper when they said something to him as if they were equals and ended up killing them, he made sure to practice with inconsequential humans that wouldn't be an issue to his plans, of course; he didn't have this problem with these two, Rei and Haruka almost always behaved, making maintaining the act far easier than other times.

But they had outlived their usefulness; while Rei's connections looked like they would help his objective on first glance, after months of work and exhausting every resource, he found that they were as useless as all the others and after finding not one but _two_ demon hunters in the last few days, not to mention one with those _damned_ earrings, he decided it was time to move on.

Now he just had to make sure there were no loose ends.

With that, he walked inside the house and just as he opened the door.

"Daddy!" Haruka yelled excitedly as she ran and hug his knees.

"Welcome back." Rei said smiling and calmly walking towards the two. "Is something wrong, dear? You look a bit upset."

They were both dressed in matching brown nightgowns, with Rei's hair free to fall to the middle of her back while Haruka's was still in twin braids.

"…yes, you could say that." He answered, his hat obscuring most of his face.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Haruka asked, looking innocently into her father's eyes.

"You two have done enough." Muzan answered, although the tone made the two women frown a bit.

"In any case, we should all go to sleep." Rei said erasing the frown from her face and replacing it with a smile, dismissing 'Tsukihiko' is tone as him being tired. "Come on, Haruka, time for bed." She said as she grabbed her daughter and picked her up in her arms.

_DLING_

Suddenly, the entire area changed, the walls of their home replaced with a strange, _moving_, environment that seemed to be made of parts of buildings put inside a bigger building.

"Wh-what…" Rei trailed off as she looked around the place in confusion.

"Where are we?" Haruka asked.

"Your contacts didn't help anything." 'Tsukihiko' spoke, no longer keeping his human façade. "And I don't have any further use for you."

"Wh…. What are you talking about, Tsukihiko-san?" The black haired woman asked, her shock clear in her expression.

He didn't answer, the first demon simply turned around as the same sound from before was heard and he was suddenly on a platform, far from the two humans.

"Daddy, you're scaring me, what's going on?" Haruka asked, trembling on her mother's embrace.

"Grr."

The two turned around to a sound that resembled the growl of an animal, except that the figure they saw was very much human in appearance.

"D-daddy, what's wrong? Did I do something that made you mad?" The little girl said, fear now clear in her voice.

Rei didn't bother with saying anything, partly because her mind was too shocked to actually say something but mostly because she understood, on an instinctual level, that whatever this place was is not a place where humans should ever enter.

Tightening the grip on her daughter, she quickly turned the opposite direction of the human figure and began to run.

It was a useless gesture, as she doesn't even understand _how_ she got to that place in the first place, but she still ran, hoping that there was some sort of exit nearby.

The figure saw them getting away and, while crawling on all fours, it leaped towards them.

* * *

Tanjiro ran, using the entire environment he had at his disposal to avoid the temari and the arrows guiding them.

He still moved around the area where Susamaru was able to see him, since she may decide to attack Tamayo or Yushiro if he gets out of her sight.

Even with Yushiro's technique allowing him to see the arrows, dodging them wasn't by any means an easy task, it made it easier but the things were still moving absurdly fast and he has seen the kind of damage they can cause.

Running around the yard, the Demon Slayer side-stepped every now and then to make sure he avoided the arrows, even running on the side of Tamayo's house when he had no other place he could move to dodge.

'Nezuko, how much longer?' The red haired teen wondered as he ducked beneath two of the temari and quickly jumped to the side to avoid the ones that followed, all of which quickly changed direction and continued after him.

He continued to jump, duck, side-step and avoid all of the hits until he was forced to a position with all the six temari surrounding him.

'It's okay, I'll cut one to make a path and escape through it.' Tanjiro thought, preparing his sword but, before he could do that. 'The arrows disappeared.'

Noticing the sudden change, and thanking Nezuko in his mind, the demon hunter changed plans.

'They won't swerve unnaturally anymore; then...' Taking a deep breath, he prepared to unleash a technique. 'The one behind me to my right is the one further away from the demon, start from there.'

The swordsman used his right leg as pivot and turned towards the temari he had marked as the first target.

'Water Breathing. Third Form, Flowing Dance!'

As his sword began to be enveloped in water, he slashed at the projectile, cutting it in half and killing its momentum, without stopping he dashed to the temari on the far left of his original position, cutting it with a horizontal strike aimed slightly upwards, using the momentum from that attack he jumped slightly off the ground and performed a downward slash on the third temari, then quickly dashed to the fourth one with a diagonal slash, starting from his lower left, he repeated a downwards slash against the fifth weapon and finally cut the last one with another horizontal slash; the entire technique was performed at a speed that made the entire thing look like one connected attack instead of six different ones.

Without stopping, Tanjiro rushed towards the owner of the temari but, instead of aiming for her neck, he cut off her arms; performing a slash that resembled a triangle, first cutting the three arms on the demon's left side with an upwards slash that stopped on top of her head and then cutting downwards to sever the other three arms, his momentum carrying him a few feet away from Susamaru.

"Tamayo-san! Are these two demons closely related to Kibutsuji?" He asked after finishing his technique.

"Most likely." The black haired woman answered, still covering her wound with one hand.

"Then, I will definitely extract blood from these two!" He declared.

"Khahaha." In response to his declaration, Susamaru began to laugh, even as her severed arms turned to ash and disappeared. "You think you're going to extract blood from us?" She asked in a mocking tone. "I don't know what you're scheming…" She turned to look at the red eyed teen over her shoulder, smiling despite losing her limbs. "…but I won't allow you to do anything to displease him!"

The Kamado felt a wave of fear wash over him unlike anything from the demons he has faced before, not because of her declaration but because of the loyalty she seemed to have towards Kibutsuji Muzan.

"If you think you can extract blood from us Twelve Demon Moons, then have at it!" The hazel-eyed demon taunted as she turned to stand face to face with the Demon Slayer.

"Watch your back!" Yushiro warned from inside the, now destroyed, house. "Don't let your guard down for a second! If those two really are Twelve Demon Moons, then they're undeniably more formidable than any other demon you've killed until now!"

"Right! Understood!" Tanjiro answered, his guard already raised, and repeated what Yushiro just said. "Watch my back, don't let my guard down for a second, undeniably…" He trailed off, feeling his confidence take a dip. "…until now…" Seeing that repeating what he just heard would be counterproductive, the red haired teen quickly amended. "Right! I'll do my best!" And left it at that.

"Tamayo-sama!" The aforementioned turned to her companion, her wound already regenerated and only the blood marring her face and the hair that became loose being the only evidence that there was an injury in the first place. "Let's use those two as decoys and escape!"

"_GASP_" Tamayo paled, even the color from her kimono seeming to fade at hearing such a thing.

"I'm just kidding!" Yushiro quickly amended.

.

A few moments earlier.

'Find demon, protect Onii-chan.' That was the sole thought going through Nezuko's head as she continued to jump from tree to tree, trying to locate the demon her brother told her to go after.

She eventually found him, sitting comfortably on a branch with his back against the trunk of the tree.

Her pupils turned into slits as she made one final jump to close the distance, spinning once in mid-air and delivering a kick with her right leg.

The demon raised an arm to block it, stopping the attack.

With unnatural agility, she raised her opposite leg and kicked him with it.

Yahaba once again managed to raise his arm to block, but clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Don't stir up dust like that." He muttered. "So filthy!" He looked at her with the eyes on his palms, both of which suddenly closed and Nezuko was suddenly moved to the side by an unseen force. 'Tch, since she interrupted me, the arrows guiding Susamaru's temari disappeared.' The short haired demon used his hands to straighten his clothes, getting rid of any dirt on it. 'Well, whatever, even if they can manage to wound us it's not like we can't regenerate.' With that thought, he jumped down from the tree, seeing no point in hiding any longer.

.

Susamaru laughed, regenerating her cut off arms with ease and making six new temari balls.

"I'm going to bring that head of yours to him."

The swordsman noticed that her regeneration took a lot less time than what he was used to, fear and nervousness invading his body against his will, before noticing a shadow on his peripheral vision and quickly turning towards it but he was sent to the ground when Nezuko, the origin of said shadow, crashed against him.

Yahaba grinned and calmly dropped down from the tree, having both his arms at his side with the palms facing the Kamados.

"Now then, why don't you both die at once?" Susamaru threw one of her temari at them.

Tanjiro pushed himself and his sister to the side to avoid it, the weapon bringing up a lot of dust after hitting the ground.

"Are you okay, Nezuko?" The red haired teen asked, earning a quick nod.

"Hey, demon hunter!" Yushiro called out. "You get rid of that arrow man first! We'll take on the temari woman with your sister!"

"Understood!" Tanjiro agreed and turned to his sister, whom looked at him by bending her head backwards. "Nezuko, whatever you do, don't push yourself too hard."

The younger Kamado hummed her agreement and sat straight once again before looking at Tamayo and Yushiro.

For a moment, the figures of her mother and youngest brother, Rokuta, overlapped with theirs.

'Protect!' She thought as her pupils turned into slits again and the veins on her face seemed about to pop.

The siblings stood up, looking in opposite directions at their respective opponents.

"I'm counting on you." Tanjiro said simply before they both dashed in opposite directions.

'I swear, I'm going to extract their blood.' The swordsman thought as he dashed towards Yahaba. 'If it means the medicine will be perfected even a minute sooner; I'll gladly fight any demon! I'll fight and win!'

He jumped forwards, his sword ready for a horizontal slash.

'I see it! The Opening thread!'

"What a grimy little urchin you are." Yahaba said, raising his right arm with the eye on its palm looking at the demon hunter. "You stay away from me!" The eye closed audibly and the thread that Tanjiro had seen snapped in tandem with it.

An arrow appeared right below the swordsman's feet, aiming away from the demon, moving him against his will and making him miss his swing.

The sound of the arrow demon's eyes closing was heard again and another arrow pointing to the right appeared from Tanjiro's left, moving him in that direction and sending him crashing against a tree.

Yahaba continued to stand in his initial position and summoning the arrows to send the demon hunter crashing around the area.

'This hurts! I mean this really… it seriously hurts!' The arrows themselves didn't do any damage, thankfully, but the speed at which they forced him to move and the way they constantly appeared out of nowhere left him with no way to try and soften the crash, let alone counter attack.

After continuing to crash around the floor, the trees and the walls for some time, one arrow sent him flying upwards. Moving him in random directions for a second before disappearing, leaving him several feet in the air where gravity did its job and began to bring him back down.

'A move! Unleash a move to blunt the attack!' Tanjiro thought, preparing one of the Water Breathing forms to be unleashed the moment he was close to touching the floor. 'Eight Form, Waterfall Jar!' The move worked and he managed to land safely on the ground, albeit in pain and a bit short of breath. 'Since the arrows were moving the temari around I thought this guy's Blood Demon Art wasn't really suited for combat and was supporting her but…' He trailed off, moving to stand face to face with Yahaba. 'If he can move anything with those arrows, his technique is actually more troublesome than the temari of that other demon.'

.

.

Meanwhile.

Susamaru laughed as she threw her temari towards the younger Kamado who continued to side-step, jump and duck to avoid being hit.

'Hmm? What is that guy doing?' She thought, noticing Yushiro running towards her in a straight line, she was about to make another temari and throw it at him. "He vanished?!" When he suddenly disappeared from her sight. 'Where is he? Is he moving faster than I can- ghg.'

"Haa!" Yushiro yelled as he punched Susamaru on the stomach with his open palm twice, the demon blocked a third hit with her arms but that only got her a kick to the head, she moved to block there but Yushiro kicked from the opposite direction and then kneed her on her chin, making the demon fall to her knees.

The green haired demon undid his technique and pointed at her while glaring.

"You hurt Tamayo-sama! I'll never forgive you for that!"

"Tamayo?" Yahaba asked, overhearing his yell. "Hey, Susamaru, the one over there… wouldn't that be Tamayo the fugitive?" He asked with a smile. "What a great souvenir she'll make!"

"Is that right?" Susamaru asked, getting back on her feet and with six new temari on her arms. She looked towards her two opponents, noticing that Nezuko and Yushiro were standing to her right and left respectively before throwing three of her weapons towards each.

One of them approached Nezuko near the ground and she prepared to kick it.

"Idiot!"

"You mustn't kick it!" Yushiro and Tamayo warned in turn but it was too late.

Nezuko's right leg that she tried to kick the temari with was severed from below the knee, making her fall face first to the ground in surprise.

Not wasting the opportunity, Susamaru quickly went towards her downed enemy and kicked her in the stomach, back towards the inside of the house and crashing against a wall.

"What fun this is! What fun this is!" The six armed demon said her catchphrase as she stood over the severed limb while bouncing one of her weapons off the ground. "I like kemari, too!" She grabbed the ball and, without taking her eyes off her opponents, asked. "Yahaba, will four heads be enough to take home?"

"No." He answered immediately. "We're taking two. The demon hunter and the fugitive." The arrow demon turned towards Tanjiro. "We have no use for the other two."

.

.

Inside Tamayo's home.

'It hurts.' Nezuko thought as she moved to a sitting position and saw the place her leg used to be.

"Nezuko-san!" Tamayo called out as she kneeled beside her. 'The bleeding isn't stopping instantly.' She noted. 'She's recovering so slowly.' Rummaging through her kimono, she took out a syringe. "This medicine will help heal your leg right away, all right?" The woman said as she injected her.

'…mom.' The pink-eyed girl thought as she stared at her, the worry on Tamayo's expression reminding her of how her mother would always take care of her or her siblings when one got injured. 'They hurt you… unforgivable!'

.

.

With Tanjiro.

'What should I do?' He thought, his guard ready to meet the arrow demon's attacks. 'I can't lose no matter what! But even if I can see the Opening Thread, it won't be easy to slash him!' It was similar as the time when he cut the boulder after Sabito dodged at the last second.

The Water Pillar had purposely left an opening in his stance that he could see and then moved at the last possible second so the red haired teen couldn't stop his own attack.

While similar it was certainly different, Yahaba wasn't leaving an opening on purpose, in fact, his stance was full of openings but they were all meaningless since those arrows made it so no matter the opening, Tanjiro won't be able to get close enough to take advantage of it.

'It will be useless to use a move, he'll just change the direction of the sword with his arrows.' Just as he thought that, Yahaba raised a hand, the eye on its palm looking at him. 'And I hate to say it… but those eyeballs on his hands are creepy! Though I hate to say it!'

The eyeballs closed and several arrows moved towards him.

'Not good, dodge!' Tanjiro jumped to the side, rolling on the ground to avoid the first three arrows, then jumped and spun forwards to avoid the next two, side-step another one only for the first arrows to turn around and come back towards him. 'The arrows don't disappear until they hit me, what if I try to slash them?' He put that theory into practice and did a downwards slash towards the next arrow that was approaching him. 'Oh, cra-!'

It was a futile attempt, his sword was unable to cut the arrow and the moment it made contact he was sent flying to the direction it was pointing, which was towards one of the outer walls where he left a dent from the force of the impact and accidentally let go of his sword.

'What should I do?' He didn't have time to think as another arrow came at him from the ground before changing direction upwards.

Tanjiro managed to avoid it by taking off his haori and having the arrow move it instead of him.

The moment he landed, Yahaba sent another arrow but instead of moving him, it twisted around his right arm.

"It's all going the way I want it to!" The demon bragged, smiling at the swordsman's pain. "Your arm's going to get twisted right off!"

Seeing the way the arrow was pointing at, Tanjiro ran towards a tree running up on its trunk until he was close to the top then jumped and spun in the same direction the arrow was pointing making it let go of his arm.

He landed near his sword and grabbed it.

"So, you eluded it by spinning in the same direction as the Kouketsu Arrow?" Yahaba thought out loud. "Damn monkey!"

But the demon hunter didn't have time to listen to him, his body was battered, if he was sent crashing towards a wall or tree again, he is not sure if he can get up.

'I have to strike back!' He thought, quickly going through every bit of information he has acquired on how this Blood Demon Art works and coming to a conclusion. 'I gotta change the arrow's direction without touching it directly!'

Yahaba clicked his tongue in annoyance and prepared to launch more arrows.

"It's about time for you to die!" He yelled, closing the eyes on both his palms.

'Adapt your moves!' Instead of waiting for the arrows to come to him, Tanjiro began to run towards the demon. 'First, use the Sixth Form to envelope the arrows! Then use the footwork of the Third Form to close in on him!'

Tanjiro dodged the first arrows by side-stepping but continuing to dash forwards.

'Twist! Envelope!' Grabbing his sword with both hands, the Kamado's weapon was enveloped in water as he began to move his swords along the path of the arrows forcing them to follow along. 'Twisting Whirlpool-Flowing Water!'

'Not good!' Yahaba thought in panic, quickly trying to force the arrows out of the path the demon hunter was leading.

'My sword's so heavy!' The Kamado thought as he continued to use the footwork to move towards his opponent while also keeping the arrows contained along the path he makes. 'But…' Jumping off the ground once he was in range, he moved so his body and sword were parallel to the ground. 'Second Form Modified! Horizontal Water Wheel!'

Opening one eye in shock, Yahaba felt the Nichirin Blade slicing his head off, destroying the necklace he was wearing as well. His body fell to the ground with a _thud_ while Tanjiro couldn't correct his position to land on his feet but managed to roll so he wouldn't get hurt by the fall.

'I did it!' The swordsman thought; still on the ground but looking towards the demon. 'The Whirlpool move loses force when it's not underwater but thanks to his attack it gained power and I was able to envelope the arrows!'

As he thought that, Yahaba's head fell to the ground, his right eye falling off its socket.

"Curse you!" He yelled. "Curse you! Curse you! Curse you! All I had to do was bring back your head, and I would've won his approval!" As he said that, Tanjiro noticed that the beheaded body was twitching. "I won't forgive you! I'll never ever forgive you! Shoving my face into this vile dirt!" As he said this, the palms on his body opened. "You're going down with me!" The pupils on the eyes had arrows pointing in all directions and when they closed, several arrows appeared in Tanjiro's body.

'Not good, if they all go at once…!' An image of his body getting torn apart flashed through his mind. 'He's gonna get me!' Instead of being killed, though, he was moved in the direction of one of the arrows. 'They're not going at once but… the force at which I'm being pulled is stronger than the arrows he's hit me with until now!' A wall was quickly getting closer as the arrow continued to pull him along. 'I have to unleash move after move and go on the defensive, or my body's going to get smashed!' With a plan in mind, Tanjiro quickly unleashed the Fourth Form, Striking Tide, against the wall, stopping himself from crashing against it.

He fell to the ground as the arrow lost its power but another one sent him upwards towards the sky.

'The pressure is bearing down on my body, and I can't swing my sword!' Despite this, the Kamado forced himself to maintain his grip on his weapon and to unleash a technique to stop the arrow from sending him even further away from the floor. 'Not here! Don't let yourself get beat! Water Wheel!' The second form of Water Breathing killed the arrow's momentum but he didn't have time to rest as another one began to move him, this time towards the ceiling of Tamayo's house. 'Waterfall Jar!' A moment later another arrow activated and he unleashed yet another technique to kill its momentum before he could crash against something, only to have to do it again as yet another arrow activated.

'I've never made this many consecutive moves before!' He thought, feeling the repercussions of having to constantly use Total Concentration Breathing to keep unleashing moves. 'My arms hurt, if Sabito hadn't told me about Total Concentration Breathing constant it would probably be a lot worse; that being said…' He unleashed another move to avoid crashing against a tree. 'This still hurts a lot!'

"Nowhere near enough!" Yahaba's disembodied head said even as it began to turn into ash and disappear. "More… Suffer more!"

With those words, the arrows began to activate at an increased speed, not giving Tanjiro any choice but to unleash a move almost immediately after the previous one.

'How many more times? How many?' The Kamado wondered, feeling his body reach the limit of his stamina, and he's fairly certain he had already broken something from pushing himself too far. 'Don't think about it! Just keep unleashing moves! Keep throwing them out!' He told himself, knowing that he has no choice but to continue until the attacks finally cease.

"Not yet! It's still not enough yet!" Yahaba yelled as his head finally finished disappearing, the arrows left on Tanjiro's body along with him.

'It's over…' The swordsman thought in relief as he fell to the ground; it was a good thing he wasn't that far above it because he could barely keep himself awake, the burden from using so many techniques at once leaving him short of breath and almost making him pass out. 'Breath, not like this, breath properly.' He told himself, slowly stopping his pants and taking calm deep breaths. 'I've got a broken rib and leg.' He realized. 'But right now, I need to go where the other demon is.'

The red haired teen moved to grab his sword and put his right hand over the grip but it just wouldn't close.

'N-no good! I'm too exhausted to grip my sword!' Giving up on holding it properly, he dragged himself forwards, grabbing his Nichirin with his teeth before crawling towards Nezuko, Tamayo, Yushiro and the Temari Demon. 'I'll be there soon! I'll be there soon so please be safe! Please…be safe!' He prayed as he continued to force his battered body to move.

.

.

With Yushiro.

After Nezuko was sent flying inside the house and Tamayo went after her, the green haired demon quickly moved to stand between said house and Susamaru, using his cloaking ability to catch the demon woman off guard and deliver some more hits.

Despite this, the temari demon never stopped grinning and when she managed to get some respite by hitting in random directions with her six arms, forcing him to jump back, then she began to laugh as she bounced her balls off the ground fast and hard enough to create a smoke screen.

Yushiro clicked his tongue in annoyance and quickly moved his body to the right to avoid a temari that came flying towards him. He continued to dodge the attacks with minimal movement as Susamaru continued to throw her weapons at his location.

"Ridiculous! It's child's play for me to evade a linear attack like this!" He said as he began to move forwards while dodging the temari that, thanks to the smoke screen, seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Locating you is a breeze, as well!" He activated his cloaking ability once more to close the distance and attack her.

'The same goes for you!' Susamaru thought with a grin as Yushiro moved exactly as she expected him to. 'No matter how well you might conceal yourself, I can see you clear as day!' Thanks to the smoke all around, even when Yushiro 'disappeared' he was still moving the smoke around, which told Susamaru exactly where he was and allowed her to throw a temari right at his face.

Caught off guard, Yushiro wasn't able to move out of the way and prepared to have his head blown up for the second time.

_THUMP_

But instead of losing his head as he thought he would, Nezuko appeared, kicking the temari and deflecting it so it wouldn't hurt Yushiro.

"Kahahahaha, what fun this is!" Susamaru said despite having her attack blocked like that.

"Hey you!" Yushiro called out to Nezuko. "Don't be so rash just because you can't die!"

'…' The younger Kamado just stared at him, not truly paying attention to his words.

"Wh-what's wrong?"

'Rokuta…' She thought, as Yushiro's visage reminded her of the times her youngest brother would cry. So she did the same thing she used to do to him, pat his head.

The male demon was understandably confused at the sudden action but quickly shook himself out of it.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked while trying to force the hand away. "Here it comes!"

Another temari moved towards the two and, once again, Nezuko kicked it and deflected it.

Not caring that her weapon wasn't doing its job, Susamaru continued to throw them towards her, trying to rip her leg off like the first time.

Again and again and again.

Yet the first result never repeated itself, on the contrary, Nezuko was deflecting them with greater ease after each kick.

"Look at her…" Yushiro thought out loud as he wondered how she was doing this. "Tamayo-sama…" He trailed off, looking at the woman with the purple kimono after she moved to stand beside him, wondering what kind of medicine she gave her.

"Hmm!" With a mighty kick, Nezuko sent the thrown temari back to her owner, who caught it with one of her many hands… no, it was more like, her hand just happened to be in the temari's path.

For the first time, Susamaru's smile disappeared from her face as she looked at Nezuko.

'You little brat!' She cursed. 'So, now you can kick my temari back at me?' She glared at her as she let the temari fall from her hand. 'How insolent!' And kicked it towards the pink eyed demon.

Nezuko immediately kicked it back, only for Susamaru to once again kick it towards her and so on.

"You little brat!" Susamaru yelled, the veins on her body bulging to show how much she was pushing herself.

Nezuko just growled as she kept trying to overpower her opponent.

"Unbelievable." Yushiro thought out loud, trying to comprehend how Nezuko was able to keep up with the temari demon now. "Tamayo-sama, is this…"

"I used a healing serum on her, nothing more. Made exclusively for demons." Tamayo answered after he trailed off. "It doesn't make one physically stronger; what we're seeing is Nezuko-san's own power."

'Not yet.' Nezuko thought as she kicked the temari once more. 'Protect.' The ball came back towards her. 'I will protect them!'

"Without devouring human blood… solely on her own… she's gaining strength at a rapid rate."

'You won't touch them!' She yelled in her mind, as her kick sent the temari past Susamaru and into the wall behind her, shocking the hazel-eyed demon.

'However, her opponent is also formidable.' Tamayo thought, realizing that Susamaru had just been kicking the temari back and forth to play around. 'If she were to go all-out, Nezuko-san wouldn't stand a chance.' With that thought, she moved up the left sleeve of her kimono to reveal her arm before using her nails to injure herself and draw blood.

"You're an amusing little girl!" Susamaru said, seemingly happy with what just happened. "This time, I'm going all-out against you!" She raised her hands, making six temari appear on them. "I wonder how long you can hold out!"

Nezuko growled, ready to continue the fight, when Tamayo walked forward to stand between the two.

"Twelve Demon Moon girl there."

"You're in my way! Step back, you damn fugitive!" The temari demon demanded, wanting to keep 'playing' with Nezuko.

"Just tell me one thing please." She requested. "Are you aware of Kibutsuji's true identity?"

The second that name came out of her mouth, Susamaru paled and almost took a step back.

"What the hell did you say?"

"That man is nothing but a coward." Tamayo continued, ignoring the outburst. "He lives in constant fear of something."

"Stop it! Damn you! Stop it!" Kibutsuji's assassin demanded.

"Do you know why it is that demons can't band together?" She paused, waiting for an answer but received none. "The reason why demons cannibalize each other? It's to prevent other demons from banding together and attacking him. He manipulates demons to act this way." She stared into her eyes before saying her next words. "Demons like you."

"Shut up…" Susamaru said, shaking her head as if to dismiss her words. "Shut up, shut up! No way is he that petty!"

'Tamayo-sama is casting a spell.' Yushiro thought, noticing the blood falling from her arm.

"The power he wields is mind-blowing! There's no one stronger than him!" Susamaru yelled, sounding like a child throwing a tantrum. "Not Ki-"

_CRASH_

In the future, Susamaru will remember this event with a mix of relief and shame as the wall suddenly exploding stopped her from saying 'that person' is name but right now, like the rest of the people present, she just stared at the sudden hole in the wall and the one responsible for it.

It was a demon without a doubt, the grey skin and the veins bulging were a dead giveaway but even more than that was the fact that it had blood around his mouth and the front part of his black jacket and was growling in a way that sounded more animal than human. Other than that, he has medium long brown hair with loose strands falling in front of his face and the rest tied in a poorly made ponytail and a katana resting around his hip.

'What- did that person send another demon here?' The hazel-eyed woman thought.

'Not good, if this demon is anywhere near as strong as she is then we'll have trouble.' Yushiro thought, prepared to cloak and try to subdue the new demon.

"Grrr!" The new demon growled and looked between Susamaru and the other three before lunging towards Tamayo, unsheathing his sword to try and cut her head.

"No, you don't!" Yushiro yelled, moving between them and using his left hand to divert the swing to his left and then hit him with the palm of his right hand, momentarily stunning him. Taking advantage of their positions, Tamayo's companion grabbed the hand holding the sword with both hands, moved under it and, moving his right hands to envelop his opponents so he couldn't let go of the weapon, moved his left one to his shoulder and pushed down to immobilize him.

Getting over the initial surprise, Susamaru threw one of her temari towards Yushiro so he'll let go of her new ally but Nezuko quickly jumped in the middle and kicked the ball back towards her.

'Brat!' She prepared to throw all six of her weapons at the same time- 'Oh no!' But stopped and began to run away, Nezuko quickly tried to follow behind her.

"Tamayo-sama, we have to go inside, the sun is coming up!" Yushiro called out, seeing the first rays of sunlight on the horizon. "You go on ahead, I'll make sure this demon can't follow you and-" The rest of his sentence was cut off when a temari suddenly hit him on the side, sending him flying towards the house.

'Finally managed to get one past you!' The temari demon cheered in her mind as one of her six temari managed to get past the pink-eyed demon. "You're on your own now." She said to the now free demon before continuing to run.

"Nezuko-san, don't chase her, please come back!" Tamayo called out.

The Kamado stared at her for a moment before doing as told.

"Tamayo-sama, look out!" Yushiro's warning came a moment too late, as the brown haired demon's sword was about to cut her head.

_Clang_

"Be careful, that's a Nichirin Blade!" Tanjiro yelled, having blocked the blade by moving behind Tamayo and clashing his sword with the demon's before it could draw blood. "Nezuko, go with them, the sun is about to come up!" He yelled, forcing the enemy demon away. "I'll deal with this one and find you after."

"Understood, be careful!" Tamayo answered.

Tanjiro then forced the demon back, allowing Tamayo to go towards Yushiro and help him inside the house, followed by Nezuko.

'I really must thank Sabito the next time I see him.' The older Kamado thought. 'I didn't think I would be able to move but I managed to force myself by using Total Concentration Breathing.'

He had begun to use the breathing technique the moment he smelled that the sword the demon was holding was a Nichirin Blade realizing that this demon was, in a way, a lot more dangerous for his three allies to fight against.

'Hold on, just hold on until the sun-' The red haired teen's thoughts were cut off when he felt his lungs hurt, making him gasp, lose strength and allowing the demon to overpower him.

He quickly grabbed the red haired swordsman from the neck and used him as battering ram to crash through Tamayo's house and then pinned him against the ground when they were on the other side.

'Damn it… I knew it would take its toll… but to think I wouldn't be able to keep up for even a few minutes'. Tanjiro thought, coughing as the demon raised his blade. 'Not good! Move! Move!' He desperately tried to take a deep breath but his attempt only left him coughing some more.

The demon didn't wait and lowered his blade, aiming for his neck.

'Move! MOVE! I can't die here!'

"Graaahh!" Before the blade could sever his head, the demon suddenly screamed and jumped back.

The sun had risen and its light passed through the holes in the house left by Tanjiro's body

'That was close.' The Kamado thought in relief as the demon retreated to the shadow the house made to avoid being killed. 'I can take my time now, as long as I'm under the sunlight he shouldn't be able to get close to me.' With that thought, Tanjiro began to regulate his breathing.

"Ki… ill me…" His breath hitched when he heard the demon speak and turned his eyes towards him.

"What…" And then it hit him, the reason why a demon has a Nichirin Blade, he didn't notice at first because of his exhaustion and the blood splatters but the clothes this demon was wearing were a Demon Slayer uniform. "You… you are the Demon Slayer I was supposed to meet, aren't you?"

"I don't know… why I can… talk now… but please… before I hurt anyone else…" The brown haired demon begged as tears began to fall from his eyes.

"W-wait, the woman in the purple kimono that you attacked, she can make it so you don't have to eat people!" Tanjiro said. "She is even working on a way to turn demons back into humans, I'm sure it will take time but-"

"NO!" The demon yelled. "Please… it's late for me… and I don't want… to live as this." He said before suddenly clutching his head in pain. "Again… I can feel my mind slipping… please… I beg you…"

Tanjiro wanted to argue, wanted to tell him that it would be okay… but he couldn't.

'His scent… sadness and… resolve. He truly doesn't want to live as a demon, he only asked me to kill him because he wants to die as closely as a human as possible.'

Taking one more deep breath to recompose himself he stood up, the sun illuminating his expression to show it was a mix of determination and sorrow.

"I understand." He said simply and prepared his stance. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Thank you... it's… Soda Shohei…" The swordsman answered with a relieved smile.

"Kamado Tanjiro." The red haired swordsman said back before lunging towards him. 'Water Breathing, Fifth Form.'

Shohei's mind seemed to reach its limit and he raised his sword with one hand to attempt an overhead slash, but it was too straightforward an attack.

Tanjiro side-stepped to the side, dodging the sword, before his blade passed through his comrade's neck.

'Blessed Rain after the Drought.'

Shohei felt his head separate from his body but, strangely, he didn't feel any pain.

'A technique to give a mercy kill.' He thought, his mind suddenly free of that hunger that had taken away his reasoning, feeling something that he compared to a gentle rain falling on him. 'There is no pain, just warmth.' Before he could feel his head hit the floor, a hand caught him.

Tanjiro had moved to stop his head from hitting the ground and knelt down while holding it.

"I'm sorry for not getting here sooner."

'It wouldn't have made a difference.' Shohei tried to say, only to realize his mouth had already turned to ash, making it impossible. 'That thing would have killed you too… no!' The memory of the one responsible for his death reminded him. 'I have to tell him! He can pass it to the Pillars! They must know!' But as much as he wanted to, he wasn't able to speak anymore. 'Think! Think! I have to tell him… my body! I've seen demons that can move for a while even after decapitation!' With that thought, he focused his entire being on moving his already disappearing body. 'There is still time, I can write it on that wall with my sword, move!' He begged his beheaded body as it began to twitch and slowly move towards the wall. 'Raise your arm, come on, WRITE!' It was slow but he managed to make his body listen to his final commands, even as it continued to turn to ash, its left arm had already fallen off and disappeared on the ground. 'Quick, I have to tell him! About Kibutsuji Muzan's fortress- what?!'

Just as he was about to etch his dying words on the wall of the house, his body stiffened and, a moment later, three monstrously oversized arms burst from his torso, one grabbed his Nichirin and tightened its grip until it broke and the other two grabbed the torso and pulled, tearing the body apart.

"What?!" Tanjiro yelled in shock at the sudden act.

'No! No! No! Damn it!' Shohei cursed, seeing his flesh splatter along the floor with no chance of him using it to write about Muzan's fortress. 'What do I do?! I have to-'

"It's okay." The Tsuchinoto stopped panicking when he heard his junior's voice. "I'm not sure what happened but you wanted to tell me something important, right?" Shohei confirmed this by moving his eyes up and down as if it were a nod. "It will be alright, I'll discover what you wanted to tell me and defeat Kibutsuji Muzan… so please rest easy now and know you did everything you could."

'…yeah, I guess I did.' The swordsman thought with a sigh as his right eye disappeared. 'Even that wasn't enough it seems… but thank you, Kamado Tanjiro.' The last of his head began to dissolve as he stared at the broken expression on the other demon hunter. 'I pray that you succeed.' That was Soda Shohei's last thought as the last fragment of his body disappeared from this world.

* * *

'I failed.' Susamaru lamented, having entered an empty building to escape from the sunlight. 'How am I to look at Kibutsuji-sama now?'

_DLING_

The room around her suddenly changed for that of the demon fortress.

"Susamaru." The aforementioned immediately turned around and knelt. "You failed me." The temari demon flinched at those words. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"…I don't." She answered grimly. "I failed my mission, all I can offer you is my apologies… please punish me however you see fit."

There was a tense silence as Susamaru awaited her impending death.

"Good answer." Muzan said with a smirk, surprising his assassin. "You may still prove useful to me."

"Yes, Kibutsuji-sama!"

"Consider yourself warned, though, I have a low tolerance for failure." He continued, this time glaring at his subordinate. "If you fail me again, then you will wish that the demon hunter you faced killed you."

"If I fail you again, and somehow survive, I will take my own life and save you the time."

At this, the first demon let out a low chuckle.

"Hehehe, you really give good answers, Susamaru."

* * *

After offering a prayer for his comrade's soul and grabbing the pieces of his sword and scabbard, the only things that he could grab after those arms tore apart his body and uniform, Tanjiro recovered his haori and went back inside the house, calling out for Tamayo and Yushiro.

"Over here! Over here!" He heard Yushiro answer, his voice coming from an open door on the floor that, when closed, hid a set of stairs and where light could be seen at the bottom. "Not that you need to come at all but if you want to, then get down here."

"Yushiro!" The Kamado heard Tamayo admonish him.

"Only joking!" Yushiro quickly replied.

"Hurry down, then, Tanjiro-san!"

"Oh, right!" With their permission, the red haired teen did as told and carefully walked down the stairs as to not aggravate his wounds.

At the bottom he spotted Tamayo, Yushiro and.

"Nezuko!" He called out as his sister ran towards him and hugged him, he returned the gesture immediately.

"I guided her to this basement, where the sunlight won't reach her, ahead of daybreak." Tamayo explained, having re-done her hair into a bun and cleaned the blood on her face so she was looking the same as before the attack.

The basement is a small corridor, on one end, where Tamayo and Yushiro were standing, it had a space separated with wooden jail bars where the men Muzan turned when Tanjiro met him was sedated and resting.

The younger Kamado let go of her brother, turned to run back towards the other two demons and hugged Tamayo.

"Why, you!" Much to Yushiro's displeasure. "Step away from Tamayo-sama! That's so rude!"

"Stop it, Yushiro." Tamayo said calmly. "I don't mind at all."

"Yes, ma'am." He answered. 'You have such a kind heart, Tamayo-sama. You're too beautiful to believe.' While the green haired demon admired her, Nezuko moved her right hand from Tamayo's back and used it to pat Yushiro's head.

"Cut… that… out!" Again, much to his displeasure.

"Nezuko-san has been acting in this way since we got here." The lavender eyed demon said towards Tanjiro. "Do you think she's all right?"

"There's nothing to worry about. She's fine." The older Kamado assured her. "I… am not entirely comfortable with this but my Master used hypnotic suggestion on her while sleeping, he made it so she sees all humans as members of our family."

"Cut it out!" Yushiro repeated as Nezuko continued to pat his head.

"Family? But Yushiro and I are demons."

"But Nezuko has perceived you two as humans." Tanjiro answered with a smile. "That's why she tried to protect you."

'Humans…' Tamayo thought, not really listening to the next part of what Tanjiro said. 'She… sees me as a human.' Tears began to form in her eyes and fell before she even realized it.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Tanjiro yelled when he saw her cry. "Nezuko! N-Nezuko! Step away from her! It's rude, all right?" He said, repeating Yushiro's words.

"Thank you…" The woman in the purple kimono whispered, finally hugging her back. "Nezuko-san, thank you!"

At hearing this Tanjiro stopped telling his sister to step away while Yushiro's scowl, for the first time since the Kamado siblings met him, disappeared entirely and was replaced with a somewhat sad expression.

'It's true, while I did become a demon I have never eaten a human.' He thought. 'Tamayo-sama… you made sure I understood what it meant to be a demon and asked me repeatedly if I wished to live even if I was no longer human, you even seemed to try to dissuade me from choosing to live as a demon.' The male demon thought as he remembered when he was in bed, barely able to move, and decided to ask Tamayo to help him live. 'I don't regret my decision even now but… you told me you hope that I could be cured of my illness and that one day you will make a medicine that will make me human again while free of it… I've wondered this many times but, did you ever think of using that medicine on yourself as well?' That was one the one question that he could never bring himself to ask, he was too afraid of the possible answer.

"Yushiro and I will leave this region." Tamayo's words, after she calmed down and let go of Nezuko, brought him back to reality. "We've gotten too close to Kibutsuji. We must conceal our whereabouts soon or the risk will be too great." She explained. "Not to mention, even if I think I've concealed my identity, when I interact with humans as a doctor, people sometimes see through me as a demon. The young and elderly are particularly perceptive… Tanjiro-san."

"Yes?"

"Would you like us to take Nezuko-san in?" She asked surprising the red haired teen, as well as Yushiro. "I can't give you an absolute guarantee that she'll be safe…" Tamayo continued, even as her companion continued to shake his head with an expression as if the world was about to end. "…but I believe it will be less dangerous than taking her into battle."

Tanjiro frowned as he considered the offer.

'That might be true.' He admitted with a frown. 'It would be better for Nezuko to be in their care.' The red haired swordsman trailed off; logically, he could see that leaving his sister with them could be for the best but-

"Eh?" His train of thought stopped when he felt Nezuko grab her hand, he turned to look at her, his red orbs staring into his sister's pink ones. 'That's right… this isn't really my decision to make in the first place… and you just answered me.' He thought, his frown being replaced with a smile as he closed his hand around his sister's.

"Tamayo-san, thank you so much for your concern but… Nezuko and I are staying together." He declared with a serious expression that left no room for argument. "We're not going to live apart from each other." An image of his dead family, back when they were all together flashed thought his mind. "Never again."

"Very well." Tamayo said, smiling in understanding. "In that case, I wish you long-lasting good fortune in battle."

"Thank you very much." Tanjiro said with a bow that made him flinch.

"Before you leave, though, please let me tend to your wounds." The woman requested, noticing the flinch.

"I would appreciate that." The teen answered gratefully and followed her and Yushiro towards a door on the other end of the room.

.

The other room was similar to the examination room Tamayo was when the Kamados first arrived into the house, the main differences were that there were no windows and there were three desks instead of one, all of them full of papers that the woman said were part of her research.

"Can you tell me where it hurts?"

"I'm almost certain I broke my left leg and a rib, other than that I think it's just bruises." He answered.

"I see, please let me do a check-up just to make sure." The Kamado nodded and took of his jacket and shirt to let her do her work.

"What happened with that other demon anyway?" Yushiro asked with a tick mark on his forehead as he kept trying to get Nezuko to stop patting his head.

"He… he is dead… he was a demon hunter I was supposed to meet here." Tanjiro answered, surprising the other two.

"A demon hunter?" The other male in the room repeated.

"Yes, I don't know how but he must have run into Kibutsuji Muzan somehow and he turned him."

"I… did you tell him I'm capable of making it so he can live without eating humans?" Tamayo asked.

"It wouldn't have mattered, he didn't seem able of talking at all." Yushiro mentioned.

"Actually, he did talk to me and said that he didn't want to live as a demon, even after I explained, and… and that it was too late for him" The red haired teen replied, remembering the blood covering his fellow swordsman's face and uniform. "He said he didn't know why he was able to, though."

"…it's probably because of my spell." Tamayo said as she continued tending to his wounds. "You've seen one yourself back when we first met, remember?"

"Oh, yes, those flower patterns."

"I was using another one on the temari demon, the 'Magical Aroma of Daylight', to put it simply it acts as a truth serum, decreasing the target's brain functions and making it so they can't keep secrets, it must have managed to get past the blind hunger he was feeling at the time."

"I see… but, how would that help against the temari demon?"

"Tanjiro-san, have you ever tried to interrogate a demon about Kibutsuji's whereabouts?"

"Yes, once… the demon started to shiver in fear and said that she won't say anything."

"That's because of Kibutsuji's curse." The woman in the flower patterned kimono explained. "To avoid anyone from learning of him, he places a curse on all the demons he turns so that they will die if they ever do so much as speaking his name out loud."

An image of his comrade's body being torn apart by those extra arms appeared in Tanjiro's mind.

"So that's what happened…" The Kamado muttered before explaining what happened to Shohei.

"Yes, that was without a doubt caused by the curse." Tamayo confirmed. "I am sorry you had to see that, I'm sure it was… difficult, to say the least."

"Yes." The swordsman said with a nod. "And I'm sorry, I couldn't extract blood from any of them."

"It is sad to say this but you will have more chances." The lavender-eyed woman assured him grimly. "Which reminds, me Yushiro, please bring that here." She said to her companion as she began to wrap bandages around the older Kamado's torso.

"Yes." He answered, moving towards one of the desks, with Nezuko following him, and taking out a box from a drawer.

"That's a tool that will help you extract blood from demons, you just have to stab one with it and it will draw blood." Tamayo explained as Yushiro opened the box in front of Tanjiro to show a knife with a glass container inside its handle. "Please take it with you."

"Yes, thank you very much." Tanjiro said. "But how will I be able to get it to you?"

"We'll take care of that in our end, don't worry about it." Yushiro replied, leaving the box near the swordsman's discarded clothes.

"I'm done, I would suggest you rest for some time for your wounds to properly heal but I am uncertain if your job will allow you that." Tamayo said, taking a step back.

"I'll deal with that after leaving, for now we should go so you can begin to erase your tracks." He answered. "Thank you very much for everything."

"Likewise, and once again I wish you good fortune in battle."

"All right, we'll be leaving after we erase all traces of ourselves, you two get going now!" Yushiro said, crossing his arms and looking away as if he wanted them to leave as soon as possible.

"Right!" Tanjiro answered smiling, despite the biting tone. "Tamayo-san, Yushiro-san, we wish you well!" He bowed once before turning to his sister. "Let's go, Nezuko."

The demon girl nodded before turning around towards the exit.

"Hey, don't go rushing off like that!" The older Kamado said as he began to follow.

"Tanjiro!" Yushiro called out.

"Hm?"

"Your little sister… is a beauty." He said while looking at the opposite direction from the swordsman.

Tanjiro chuckled and thanked him before truly leaving this time.

* * *

**Here is another one!**

**You know? I'm glad I decided to split this chapter into two, I like long chapters as much as anyone but I think a chapter of over 15000 words might be a bit much.**

**Before you leave, I want to repeat what I said at the notes from the beginning, if you already read it there then feel free to skip this part.**

**If you didn't read it, I have an**

**IMPORTANT QUESTION!**

**So, not related to this story but I want to ask, would anyone be interested in a TanKana week?**

**If you have read any of my other works for KnY then you may know that I really like that pairing, if not then I'll tell you know, I REALLY like that pairing, haha.**

**Jokes aside, I know there was a TanKana week on the works some time before but its twitter account was suddenly deleted and the whole thing seemed to get cancelled.**

**In any case, I thought that maybe I could make one for around the end of February but I genuinely don't know the first thing about how to make a 'pairing name' week or how to promote it so then I thought 'maybe my readers can help!' which brings us to this note here.**

**If any of you would be willing to help me set it up or have any sort of advice, want to help promote it, or anything related; please let me know by contacting me, either by sending me a PM to my fanfiction . net or Wattpad accounts. Both have the same name, Manu259.**

**I am also considering making a Discord server about it… but, like with the TanKana week, I don't know how to make one (nothing that a google search wouldn't fix I'm sure but I don't want to half-ass it and end up making a mess of things); that being said, I may give it a shot if enough people ask for it, I do think it would be easier to organize things that way, but I think I may be getting ahead of myself now so I'll just wait to hear your responses for the moment.**

**Thank you, again, for your attention.**

**With all that said, I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to leave a comment!**

**Until next time!**


	14. Tsuzumi Mansion

**Tsuzumi Mansion**

**Guest review answer corner.**

**.**

**Guest: If you want to post them, be my guest, I don't mind people mentioning their theories. Just keep in mind that I likely won't be able to give you an answer other than 'that would be spoilers' or 'you'll find out in this chapter'.**

**Yep, poor guy died without relaying the information sadly but I thought it was unrealistic for him to manage that. In canon, Susamaru died just for saying Muzan's name out loud, to a group of people that already know about him, I doubt he would have overlooked someone talking about his fortress.**

**Thanks as always for the review, until next time!**

**LegoMyEggo02: It seems you disabled the private message function so I will answer here. I don't think Kyogai would be able to affect Nakime's fortress.**

**The fortress and the house are Nakime and Kyogai's Blood Demon arts respectively so they shouldn't be able to affect the other. At least, I don't think they can.**

**.**

**Welcome again everyone!**

**First of all, TANKANA WEEK IS A GO, I REPEAT TANKANA WEEK IS A GO!**

**There is a tumblr account called tankanaweek2020 and a twitter TankanaW.**

**You can also look for the #TanKanaWeek2020 to find it.**

**There is even a discord link for the server I'm part of!**

**I hope you'll be participating!**

**With all that said, I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba.**

* * *

"South-southeast!" After leaving Asakusa those were the words Kamado Tanjiro has heard the most as he walked on the path between rice fields. "Your next location is south-southeast!" His crow continued to repeat.

"I heard you!" Tanjiro answered his crow as it hovered above him, his patience finally out after having to hear it say the same thing over and over for almost twenty minutes. "I heard, so give me a break and quiet down!" The crow, instead of listening to his request, flew down until he was almost next to his ear to keep cawing. "I got the message, so please!"

"PLEASE!" A shriek, for there was no other word for it, got both the swordsman and bird's attention. "Please! Please! Please! Please marry me!"

A boy around Tanjiro's age with yellow hair and a yellow and orange haori with white triangles said on his knees as he clung to a black haired girl wearing a blue kimono with a yellow obi who seemed… less than happy about it.

"I could die any day, you know! That's why I want you to marry me! So please! Please, I'm begging you!"

"Wh-what's up with that? What on earth?" Tanjiro wondered in shock as he observed the scene.

A sparrow flew towards him and, after recovering from the initial shock, he raised his hand to let him land on it.

"Chu, chu." The sparrow said, moving its wings frantically.

"Hm. Hm." Tanjiro nodded as he heard the explanation. "I see! Gotcha!" With a final nod, he raised his head to look at the scene. "I'll do something about it!"

The sparrow literally began to glow and tears formed in the corner of its eyes.

"Please help me! Please marry me!" The blond teen continued to beg while crying and the girl tried to push him away. "I'm begging-"

"What do you think you're doing in the middle of the road?" The Kamado yelled after pulling him away from the girl from the neck of his yellow haori. "Can't you see she wants no part of you? And don't go making trouble for your sparrow, either!"

"That uniform! You're the guy from the Final Selection!" The crying teen said, making Tanjiro notice he was also wearing a Demon Slayer uniform under his haori and a sword on his waist.

Even so.

"No one I know is anything like you! I don't know you!" Tanjiro declared; angry at him for, from his point of view, harassing that girl.

"Ehhhh?! But we met, remember? We met, remember?" He yelled back. "You're the one with the problem! Like your memory!"

Tanjiro, still glaring at him, thought back to the time he left the Wisteria prison and the people that passed it along with him, remembering the guy that kept muttering about how 'he was going to die'.

He then let go of the blonde's haori and addressed the girl with the blue kimono.

"All right, it's been taken care of." He said with a smile. "You can head home now without any worries."

"I will; thank you very much!" The girl said with a bow.

"Hey!" The other male yelled, still with tears in his eyes. "Stay out of my way! That girl is going to marry me! Because she's in love with me, all ri-" His sentence got cut short when the girl slapped him in the face, hard, sending him to sit on the ground and leaving a red hand mark on his cheek to then begin to hit him repeatedly on the head.

"Ouch! Ouch! It hurts! Stop it!" Zenitsu kept asking while covering his head as she continued to hit him.

"H-hey, calm down!" Tanjiro said, grabbing the girl from below her arms to hold her back.

"When did I ever tell you that I loved you?" She yelled, pointing a finger at him. "You were crumpled up on the side of the road looking ill, and all I did was speak to you!"

At the declaration, the blond paled as if the earth just shattered beneath his feet.

"You mean you didn't reach out to me out of love because you were worried?" He asked, still making it sound like he was shrieking.

"I already have a fiancé, so not on your life!" The girl yelled back with a scowl that quickly lessened to a frown. "With all that energy you must be fine now, right? Goodbye!" Having said her piece, Tanjiro let go of her and she turned and walked away.

"W-Wait, come back!" The blond begged with his left hand stretched in her direction. "Come…"

"Look, cut it out!" The red haired teen said.

"Wh-why'd you get in my way? This has nothing to do with you!"

'Is he serious?' The Kamado thought in disbelief.

"What's with that look on your face?!" The other demon hunter yelled since Tanjiro's expression reflected what he was thinking at the moment. "Stop that! Why are you staring at me like I'm a creature or something?" Taking a deep breath, he pointed at Tanjiro and yelled. "Hey you! You're responsible for it! Since it's your fault that I missed out on getting married!"

'He…' Tanjiro trailed off for a second. 'He IS serious!' The Kamado thought with an expression as if he just a saw something bizarre that he can't understand.

Coming from someone that literally fights demons for a living, that says a lot.

"Say something!" The blond complained but didn't say anything else about his expression. "Listen up! I'm going to die soon! During my next job! The thing is, I'm horribly weak, okay? I'm not kidding! You gotta protect me until I manage to get married, all right?"

"My name is Kamado Tanjiro!" The red haired swordsman introduced himself, blatantly ignoring him.

"Is that right? My apologies! I'm Agatsuma Zenitsu!" Zenitsu answered him before kneeling in front of him and grabbing his haori. "Please save me, Tanjiro!"

"What do you mean, save you?" The Kamado asked before placing both hands on his shoulders. "What was your reason for becoming a swordsman, Zenitsu? Why are you being so blatantly shameless?" He asked with a tone between curiosity at his behavior and reproaching that same behavior.

"That's a harsh way to put it!" Zentisu complained before starting to cry again. "I got swindled by a woman and racked up all this debt! The old geezer who took it over for me was a cultivator!" He yelled, grabbing his head as if remembering a horrible past. "Day after day, I had to go through hellish training! It was so bad that I thought I'd be better off dead! I was hoping I could die during the Final Selection! But since I was lucky enough to survive, I'm still going through hell every day!" The blond explained before, for some inexplicable reason, stand with his feet and hands on the ground with his stomach trying to reach for the sky. "I'm so scared! Scared! Scared! Scared! I just know that I'm gonna get devoured and killed soon by a demon!" He stood up again as he continued his wailing. "My brains are gonna get sucked through my ears while I'm still alive! No! No! Please save me!"

Finally having vented it all out, Zenitsu kneeled on the ground breathing heavily.

"Better? Are you alright now?"

"Yes… sort of…" The blond answered, still teary eyed.

"Look, I can understand that fighting demons is scary but if you passed the Final Selection then you have no choice but to go on missions." Tanjiro said calmly. "Besides, don't you have a higher ranked swordsman accompanying you to assess your skill? I'm sure they will help you if things got difficult."

As soon as he said those words, Zenitsu stopped his panting and looked down.

"Ah… yeah…" The blond answered in the quietest voice the Kamado has heard from him so far.

"Speaking of…" He looked around for a second. "Where is your partner?"

"He went to get some food, he should be back soon."

"I see."

"Who are you?" A new voice asked, in front of the two teens.

He is a male, a bit older than Tanjiro, wearing a Demon Slayer uniform with some yellow markings on it and a black kimono on top of it and his sword strapped to his back. He has short black hair, turquoise eyes and is wearing a necklace with half of a blue-colored yin and yang symbol.

"What the hell happened here?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at Zenitsu while munching on a rice ball.

"…nothing." The blond answered, not looking at him. "He is another Demon Slayer that happened to be walking here."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kamado Tanjiro." The red haired teen said. "Are you Zenitsu's overseer?"

"Unfortunately." The black haired male said quietly so Tanjiro wouldn't hear. "Name's Kaigaku. What are you doing here?"

"I was just following my crow's indications when I found Zenitsu here."

"…your rank?"

"Mizunoto."

"Wait… so you just passed the Final Selection, where is your overseer?" The black haired swordsman asked.

"He died on my last mission, I told that to my crow but he only kept telling me to walk in this direction." The Kamado answered sadly.

"Caw, caw." Speaking of said crow. "The three of you, go south-southeast, south-southeast." It began to say.

"The three of us?" Zenitsu asked.

"Well, you heard it." Kaigaku said with a sigh before beginning to move in the indicated direction.

"Let's go." Tanjiro said as he helped Zenitsu up.

"…right." The blond said a bit reluctant.

.

.

"How are you?" The Kamado asked Zenitsu.

"Yeah." The blond sniffed. "Now that I'm calmer, I'm getting hungry."

"Don't you have any food on you?"

"Nope."

"Excuse me, Kaigaku-san, didn't you bring any food for Zenitsu?" Tanjiro asked the black haired swordsman who had been walking a few steps ahead of the two.

"Huh? Why would I do that?" Kaigaku asked, looking at the two over his shoulder. "He can get his own food."

Tanjiro frowned at the answer.

"It's fine, I can manage for a while." The other Mizunoto muttered.

"It's no good to fight with an empty stomach." Tanjiro argued.

He then reached inside a pocket in his uniform and took out a rice ball.

"Would you like to eat it?" He offered.

"Oh, thanks." Zenitsu said, accepting the food and taking a bite. "You're not eating, Tanjiro?"

"No, since that's all I've got."

The Agatsuma stared at him for a moment before using his hands to cut the rice ball in half.

"You eat half." He said, while giving a part to him.

"You sure? Thanks!"

"By the way." Zenitsu called out. "What's with the fox mask?"

"Oh, it's a gift from my master." Tanjiro said with a smile, taking the mask from his head to look at it. "He made it himself and said it is a warding mask to protect me."

"Eh?! Such a thing exists?! Can I get one?!" The other Mizunoto yelled.

"Sorry, I don't know how to make them and my master's home is far from here." Tanjiro answered him.

"Can you lend me yours then?!"

"Wha-? No." He said, placing the mask back on the side of his head. "To begin with, you can't depend on a warding mask when fighting demons."

"Eh?! But I'm scared of demons! Please, let me borrow your mask so it can protect me!"

"No." The Kamado replied firmly. "I know what you mean when you say you're scared of demons, but you can't make trouble for your sparrow and your overseer."

"Eh? Wait, I get what you mean about Kaigaku but what about the sparrow? How can you tell?"

"Well, he says you're always whining about not wanting to go to work, and you're always hitting on girls, and that you snore so loud, he's had it!" The Kamado answered. "So he says." He finished, pointing at the sparrow in his hand.

"He's saying that?" Zenitsu half-yelled. "You can understand bird-language?"

"Even the bird knows that you're worthless." Kaigaku chimed in.

The blond just looked down in shame.

"Chu, chu!" The sparrow said.

"Eh, really?" Tanjiro asked, earning a few nods from the sparrow.

"What is it?" The black haired swordsman asked, looking annoyed.

"He says Kaigaku-san thinks too highly of himself and should try to encourage Zenitsu instead of always bullying him." The Kamado said.

"What?!" The demon hunter with the black kimono stopped and snarled.

"If you demean someone you can't expect them to feel motivated to do anything." The red-eyed teen said, also stopping.

"Chu, chu."

"He agrees."

Kaigaku growled and got in Tanjiro's face.

"Now listen here, that coward there just survived the Final Selection by luck so don't go telling me what I can and can't say to him."

"How do you know that?" Tanjiro asked with a frown, confused at the attitude.

"Because I know him, he did nothing but cry during training, there is no way he actually managed to defeat the demons in that mountain."

"During training…? Wait, so you two trained together?"

"Y-yeah…" Zenitsu trailed off.

"That makes it worse!" Tanjiro yelled in anger. "You're insulting someone that went through training with you?! You should be ashamed!"

"Huh?!" A vein bulged on Kaigaku's forehead as he glared at the red haired swordsman. "Now listen here you brat, I have seniority here, I'm a Kanoe, that's three ranks above you so don't go telling me what to do."

"Rank has nothing to do with this! Apologize to Zenitsu!" The Kamado demanded, not flinching under the older male's glare.

"D-don't fight." Zenitsu said weakly as he raised his arms and approached the two. "It's okay Tanjiro, I know I'm weak so-"

"Apologize!" The red haired teen repeated towards Kaigaku.

"You little-" The Tsuchinoe raised a fist…

"Start running! Start running!" Tanjiro's crow suddenly yelled. "Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Kaigaku, run! The three of you head over to your next destination! Run, run!"

Kaigaku clicked his tongue.

"We're not done here." He said before turning around and following the crow.

"Let's go, Zenitsu." The red haired teen says, dragging him along.

.

.

"Hey, Tanjiro, on second thought, I'm not gonna make it." Zenitsu said tiredly. "Even if I go along, I'm gonna be totally useless."

The three have been following the crow that led them to a mountain and have been making their way up inside of the forest in it.

'The demon scent is getting stronger little by little.' Tanjiro thought with a small frown, not really paying attention to the blond who, despite his complaints, is still keeping pace with Tanjiro and Kaigaku. 'There's something up ahead.' Just as he thought that, they reached the exit of the forest. 'That's…'

The three stood in front of a large house that looked strangely clean for being in the middle of the forest on top of a mountain. It had its entrance to the right of the wall in front of them, with a balcony built as a second floor.

"I can smell blood." Tanjiro said. "But this particular scent…"

"Eh, you smell something?" Zenitsu asked, trying to see if he can catch any scents.

"Something I've never smelled before." The Kamado answered.

"I don't know about that, but do you hear a sound?"

"Who the hell cares about that?!" Kaigaku yelled. "I don't have the time to babysit you guys, so just stay here and out of my way so I can kill the demon." He declared before walking towards the house.

"Ah, wait-"

"Shut up, you waste of space!" The black haired swordsman interrupted his sibling disciple.

"How can you say that?! Apologize right now!" Tanjiro yelled but he was ignored by the older swordsman, who simply clicked his tongue and walked inside the house, slamming the door shut after entering. "That guy…" The red haired teen trailed off, before sighing and turning to Zenitsu. "We should also… hmm?" He trailed off once again when he saw two kids, a boy and a girl that looked like siblings, standing on the shade of a few trees.

The boy looked to be around ten with short black hair, brown eyes and a light green kimono with a blue haori on top and was hugging the girl close to him as if to protect her.

The girl is smaller and younger than the boy, wearing a pale pink kimono with a purple obi, she has the same colored eyes and hair, but hers is longer and parted back into two low pigtails tied with red bobble hair ties.

"K-Kids…" Zenitsu mentioned.

"I wonder what's wrong." Tanjiro muttered before walking towards the two. "Hey, guys, what are you doing here?"

Instead of answering, the two paled and leaned away from him.

'They're really scared.' The Mizunoto didn't need his sense of smell to tell that, the two kids looked terrified and were trembling non-stop.

"Okay, wanna see something cool?" Tanjiro asked with a smile as he knelt down so he was at their eye-level. "Ta-da." He raised his left hand. "It's a tame sparrow!" As if understanding what was happening and wanting to help, Zenitsu's sparrow jumped a few times and made some sounds. "See? Isn't he cute?" The sparrow 'chued' once again.

The gesture seemed to take them out of their fear-induced trance, as tears began to well up in both their eyes and they fell on their knees, still clutching to each other.

"Please tell me." Tanjiro spoke softly while wearing a worried expression. "Did something happen? Is this your house?"

"No." The boy said while shaking his head, a horrified expression in his face. "No, it's not… this… this is… a-a monster's… house!" He finally managed.

Tanjiro's features immediately changed to a serious expression, knowing what the 'monster' most likely is.

"Our big brother got taken away." The boy began explaining. "When we were walking down the road at night, this monster we'd never seen before showed up. It didn't give us a glance. Just our brother."

"And they went inside that house, right?"

"Y-yeah." The boy nodded.

"Did you two follow them here?" Tanjiro smiled. "You did good! Great job!" He sincerely praised them, knowing that it's not something kids their age, or even some adults, would do in the same situation.

"We followed the traces of his blood." The boy said, the tears that had been on the corner of his and his sister's eyes finally falling. "Because he got hurt!"

Tanjiro's expression turned to a frown for a moment before smiling once again.

"Don't worry!" He reassured them. "We're going to defeat the bad guy and rescue your brother!"

"Really?" The girl asked, talking for the first time. "You really will?"

"Yeah, for sure!" The Kamado confirmed, standing up to his full height again.

"Tanjiro…" Zenitsu called out, holding his right hand to his ear. "Hey, what is this sound? This creepy sound never stops." He said with trembling eyes. "Is it a tsuzumi?"

"Sound?" Tanjiro asked. "I don't hear any." But as if on cue, the sound of a drum began to be heard from the house, slowly becoming faster and louder until…

"Eh?"

"_Gasp_"

The four looked in horror as a man in a grey kimono and combed back black hair fell from the balcony, his body covered in blood from several wounds, and crashed against the ground, splattering blood all over the ground.

"Don't look!" Tanjiro yelled towards the two kids, who quickly did as told, and ran towards the man that seemed to be thrown from the house. "Are you all right? Stay with me!" He said to the man as he held him up and examined him. 'The wound is so deep.' The swordsman grimaced, realizing that it was too late.

"Even though… I got out…" The man spoke quietly. "Even though I made it out… made it outside..." His eyes dilated as his breath got more labored. "…am I gonna die? Am I still gonna die?"

Knowing that there is nothing to do, Tanjiro hugged the unknown male, hoping to at least give him some comfort in his final moments. Not a minute later, the unnamed stranger exhaled his final breath.

'He's gone.' The Kamado thought, moving back but still holding the body as he lamented his death.

"Tanjiro." Zenitsu called out softly. "By any chance, is that guy these kids'-"

"_GRAAAAAAAAH_"

The blond got interrupted when a roar came from the house, accompanied by the sound of a drum.

The two non-demon slayers were back to trembling in fear as they latched onto each other.

Zenitsu was in a similar state, trembling while looking at the house.

While Tanjiro had glanced at the structure when he heard the roar but looked back to the now dead man after it subsided.

'We couldn't save him. If only we'd gotten here a little sooner, we might've managed to save him.' The Kamado lamented before turning to the kids.

"Hey, is this man your…" While he didn't want to make them look at a dead body, Zenitsu was right in wondering if he was their brother.

"I-It's not Nii-chan." The boy answered, while her sister buried her face on his chest. "Nii-chan's wearing a persimmon-colored kimono."

'Then it's captured more than one person.' The Mizunoto thought, fearing how many there could be.

Gently and carefully, he laid the man's body down and closed his eyes.

'I promise to bury you when I return.' He said in his mind, standing up and giving a quick prayer for him. 'Forgive me.'

"All right." Finishing his prayer, he steeled himself. "Zenitsu, come on!" He told his fellow demon hunter who… denied with his head while shaking like a leaf. "But we have to go and help them, Kaigaku-san already went in and he doesn't know about the people captured."

Zenitsu just continued to tremble, tears even beginning to form in the corner of his eyes, not showing any intention of going.

"…really?" Tanjiro asked with a voice full of disappointment. "All right, then."

Zenitsu literally shrieked as the Kamado turned around and began walking towards the house.

"Hey, come on! Why are you making that ogre face at me?" Zenitsu cried out as he hung onto Tanjiro's box, but the red haired swordsman didn't seem affected at all, he didn't break his stride in any way. "Okay, I'll go!"

"I have no intention of forcing you to." He answered, still with the same tone and an expression that could scare a demon away.

"I said I'll go!" Zenitsu cried out.

* * *

Kaigaku walked along the hallways of the house.

The inside was poorly lit and the different paper walls looked a bit old but other than that, there didn't seem to be anything weird with it.

'That brat.' The black haired man cursed in his mind. 'Who the hell does he think he is?! A mere Mizunoto trying to order me around.' Just the thought of the red haired teen was making his blood boil. 'And they expect me to baby sit him and the trash, what is wrong with the higher-ups? I should just leave them and go alo- what the hell?!' His thoughts were interrupted when the hallway he was walking along suddenly spun ninety degrees to the right, almost making him lose his balance. "The place shifted…" He trailed off as he heard the beating of a drum and the hallway spun again, this time forward, making him fall down. 'Shit! This entire house must be the work of a Blood Demon Art!' Seeing a door approaching, he prepared to crash through and rolled in the ground twice to break his fall and avoid injuries.

He was now in what looked like a large bedroom, only with no furniture.

"Marechi."

His senses went into full alert at hearing that voice and he quickly turned towards it while unsheathing his Nichirin, a steel colored blade with a black, lighting-like pattern embedded along the flat of it.

'Well, aren't I lucky? I barely entered a few minutes ago and I already find a demon.'

The demon in question looked mostly humanoid with black hair reaching just pass his shoulders, the usual traits of a demon such as grayish skin, claw-like fingers and razor sharp teeth of course, his eyes were completely red without pupils but what really set him apart from humans were the tsuzumi protruding from his body, one in his stomach and one in each shoulder and his hips.

"You're one ugly mo-"

_Dun_

His sentence got interrupted when the demon hit the tsuzumi in his stomach.

Kaigaku immediately moved to the side, a three fingered claw-like mark left where he previously stood.

'Alright, so that's how he attacks.' The swordsman thought. 'Just have to avoid the claws and cut off his head.' He began to charge towards the demon, his sword poised to strike. 'Thunder Breathing, second form!'

_Dun_

The demon hit the tsuzumi in his left shoulder, making the room spin to the left, ruining Kaigaku's footing and sending him towards the wall that now acted as the floor.

'The hell?!' The black haired male thought before correcting his posture and landing on his feet. 'This guy… he is not affected by the rotations.' He realized, seeing the demon still standing in the same place despite the rotation of the room.

"I don't have time to deal with annoyances, why are they bothering me in my house? I need to find the marechi." The demon muttered, not bothering to look in Kaigaku's direction.

"You bastard…" He jumped forwards again, once again preparing his technique. "Don't ignore me!"

_Dun_

Another claw attack came, forcing Kaigaku to stop his charge and dodge to the side lest he be cut in pieces.

"Bastard." The demon hunter seethed as he prepared to lunge again.

"Such nuisances, bothering me in my home, why did they come?" The tsuzumi demon continued to mutter before hitting the drum in his right shoulder three times making the room spin in that direction and leaving the demon on what was now the ceiling while making his foe fall in the opposite direction.

"Shit." Kaigaku cursed, preparing to land but the demon hit another drum, making the room spin forward this time, making him fall in a new direction that sent him crashing through a door and out of the room. He managed to recover quickly and rolled once to soften his landing, immediately turning towards the room with the demon in it.

"You…!" The swordsman lunged forward.

_Dun_

A tsuzumi was heard and suddenly the room he was going towards disappeared, replaced with a wall.

"That bastard… don't run away!" He yelled before beginning to run to the right, hoping the demon was in that direction.

* * *

"I'm gonna die!" Zenitsu yelled. "Gonna die, gonna die, gonna die, I'm telling you!"

After agreeing to go inside the house with Tanjiro, the red haired teen had left behind the box in his back with the two kids, saying that it would protect them if anything happened.

The blond was a bit weirded out by such a statement but didn't say anything and simply followed him inside, asking Tanjiro to protect him as they walked through the entrance hallway only for him to reveal that he has a broken leg and rib and couldn't really protect him.

He had panicked a bit at hearing that, meaning he began screaming non-stop about how Tanjiro can't have broken bones or he can't protect him, until the two kids from outside came in, saying that they heard scratching noises from the box that the Kamado a moment later said that is more important than his life and that it pains him they just left it behind.

Before they could say anything else or get the kids outside, the entire house began to rumble, scaring Zenitsu into moving his head between his legs, accidentally hitting Tanjiro and the girl with his behind when he bended over, sending them pass a door, and the two suddenly disappeared at the sound of a tsuzumi.

"Tanjiro and I got split up!" Which lead to this moment of him almost crying as the person he thought would protect him vanished in front of his eyes.

"Teruko!" The kid called out making Zenitsu gasp. "Teruko!"

"No, no, no, no!" The blond said, hanging onto his haori, still teary eyed. "Don't yell like that! If you yell and the bad guy hears you, it won't be pretty! Come on, let's step outside!"

"What… why outside?" The boy asked. "Are you trying to escape all by yourself?"

"Eh?"

"All this constant yammering about dying… aren't you ashamed of yourself?" Zenitsu froze, the strength of his grip vanishing, as the younger boy continued. "Clinging onto a younger person… don't you feel pathetic?" The blond recoiled as if he had been hit. "What are you wearing that sword on your hip for anyway?"

At the cutthroat words, and with no way of refuting them, Zenitsu fell on his back as if he had been dealt a lethal blow.

"Those words cut so deep." He muttered but quickly got up and began to literally drag the boy towards the exit despite his protests. "That's not it! I'm not gonna be of any use anyway so I'm gonna summon a grownup here, okay?" The Agatsuma justified as he continued to move towards the exit. "Because this isn't something us kids can resolve on our own!" He opened the door, ready to go under the sun and where he'll be safe from demons. "Huh?" But instead of the outside, the door led to a room inside the house. "You're kidding me, kidding me, kidding me! I'm sure this was the front door!"

And it was true, the door he opened is definitely the one that they used to enter the house.

"Where'd the outside go? I mean this door was…" Looking around frantically, he began to open any doors he saw, hoping that one of them would lead outside. "Is it this one?" It wasn't. "How about this one?" It wasn't that one either. "What about this one?" The last door led to yet another room.

Just not an empty one.

Standing in the dark, the room is occupant turned towards Zenitsu, he looked like a man, wearing pants but no shirt and, for some reason, he had a boar hide covering his head.

The masked man looked him over his shoulder, letting out a loud exhale, as the blond demon hunter just stared in fear.

"It's a monster!" He yelled, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

The 'monster' lunged forward, ignored Zenitsu, who kneeled in the ground crying while covering his head, busted down the sliding door and ran away from the two without sparing a glance.

The brown eyed boy stared at the… 'creature', for lack of a better word, as it ran away before turning towards the still trembling Zenitsu.

'Teruko… there are no words to express how happy I am you ended up with the red haired mister.' He thought.

"What the heck? What's that look in your eyes? Stop looking at me like that!" The blond pointed at him while continuing to cry.

* * *

After Zenitsu pushed Tanjiro and the girl, the room they were in suddenly began to change repeatedly at the sound of a tsuzumi until it settled for one.

It was a simple room with tatami floors, six paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling illuminating it with an orange hue and several shelves and chests lined up the walls, with a simple sliding door as the exit that was currently open.

'The room changed… no, were we the ones that moved?' Tanjiro wondered as he looked around. 'We moved to the beat of the tsuzumi?'

His thoughts were momentarily interrupted when he felt the girl with the pink kimono tremble as he held her shoulders.

"Sorry you got separated from your brother." He said softly. "But I'm gonna protect you no matter what and Zenitsu is gonna protect you brother, don't worry!" The Kamado assured her with a smile as he wiped away some tears from her eyes. "What's your name?"

"Teruko." The girl answered, still trembling but looking somewhat calmer.

"Is that right, Teruko? That's a fine name-" He cut himself short and immediately looked towards the door.

Not a moment later, a large demon with drums protruding from his body appeared in front of the door, looking forward in the hallway instead of at the two humans.

"Ky-" Tanjiro quickly covered Teruko's mouth with his hand to stop her from screaming, his eyes focused on the demon that he will have to fight.

'Even among all these scents, this is the strongest one that this house is steeped in! This one's devoured a whole slew of humans! It's the master of this house!'

"If it hadn't been… if it hadn't been for their meddling…" The demon muttered as Tanjiro continued to stare at him.

'It's not that he hasn't noticed us, he's just focused on something else.' Tanjiro thought, knowing that the chances of that demon actually not knowing they're there are slim to none. 'I have to cut off his head, but first.'

"Teruko, you gotta try not to scream." He murmured to the poor girl that had begun to tremble again after catching sight of the demon. "The room could flip around, so don't go into the hall." Tanjiro instructed, taking away his hand from her mouth. "Step back and hide behind the shelves."

Teruko glanced towards him, then at the demon, before doing as told and run towards the shelves.

"Curses, curses!" The demon muttered, loud enough for the demon hunter to hear. "Thanks to them, he got away! When he was my prey! Why is it? Why do they all keep barging into someone else's home? It's infuriating." He snarled. "It was my prey! My own prey, discovered on my own turf!"

Ignoring his mumblings, Tanjiro unsheathed his sword and prepared his stance.

"Hey! Listen! I'm with the Demon Slayer Corp. Rank Mizunoto, Kamado Tanjiro! I'm going to slay you now!" He declared. 'Hopefully, this will keep him from trying to target Teruko.'

The black haired demon didn't seem to register the threat as he just mumbled something about a 'child with rare blood'.

Not wasting any time, Tanjiro lunged towards him, jumping off the ground to reach the neck due to the height difference.

'Got him!' The red haired swordsman thought, since the demon hadn't even attempted to begin to move and was about to be in range.

_Dun_

Without looking at him, the demon used his left hand to beat the tsuzumi in his right shoulder. Almost at the same time, the room turned violently, making Tanjiro fall towards the wall that now acted as the floor.

"Teruko!" He called out, since she was also moved towards the wall but didn't land with the ease that he had acquired from training. 'Now the tatami floors are on the side! This is the demon's Blood Art, this entire house is his territory!' Before he could think more on this, his nose caught a new smell. 'A new scent is coming this way, it's not a demon!'

"Comin' through! Comin' through! Comin' through!" The voice belonging to the person Tanjiro smelled was heard, as he crashed through the shoji and entered the room.

'Wh-who's that guy? He's wearing a boar's hide! And he's wielding Nichirin blades!'

The new intruder, aside from having a boar's hide covering his head, was wearing the baggy pants of a demon slayer's uniform with a belt made of what looked like animal fur, furry hide fastening the sandal-bases in his feet to the pants and nothing from the waist up save for his mask. His dual blades, that Tanjiro recognizes as Nichirin from their scent, have dents along almost the entire edge, no guard, and the grips were covered in bandages.

"All right, you monster…" The new swordsman began, making an X with his arms while keeping his swords pointed to the ground. "Die on the battlefield and serve as my springboard! So that I can become more powerful and soar even higher!" He declared.

The demon just said 'infuriating' at the declaration from the human.

"Here goes…" The masked male said, pointing at the demon with his left blade while moving the right to be parallel to the ground. "Comin' through!"

* * *

**Here is another one!**

**Ok, I admit I ended this chapter in the same point as the anime but it's just such a good place to stop!**

**I'll say this now, Kaigaku is not done at the drum house, he will be participating some more, as to how... well, where is the fun in me telling you? Haha.**

**Once again, I remind everyone that TanKana Week is happening; you can find more info in the tumblr and twitter accounts by searching #TanKanaWeek2020.**

**With all that said, I hope you enjoyed, don't forget to comment!**

**Until next time.**


	15. The boar bears its fangs, Zenitsu sleeps

**The boar bears its fangs, Zenitsu sleeps**

**Welcome again.**

**Before everything else: WE'RE ONE WEEK AWAY FROM TANKANA WEEK PEOPLE!**

**Just wanted to give that reminder.**

**Remember to look for it in tumblr and twitter as #TanKanaWeek2020**

**With that said, on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu.**

* * *

While surprised at the sudden appearance, Tanjiro was glad that another Demon Slayer was there, how he got to the mansion is something he can ask later, for the time being he's just glad that he has an ally.

"Here goes! Comin' through!" With those words, the masked swordsman lunged towards the tsuzumi demon who, like with Tanjiro, beat the drum on his right shoulder without even turning to look at him.

The room once again spun, making the three humans fall towards the ceiling that now acted as the floor.

"Teruko!" Tanjiro called out when he saw the girl fall on her back. "Hold onto the furniture-!" He raised his left arm when he saw the other swordsman falling towards him and using him as a springboard to once again lunge towards the demon. "That one's a demon with supernatural powers! Stop launching those reckless attacks!"

But his words weren't heeded, the hunter with the boar mask simply laughed as he continued moving towards the demon.

"Infuriating." The demon said. "You damn insects running amok in my house!" He beat the drum in his left him twice, making the room spin forward until the tatami was, once again, the floor.

Tanjiro managed to soften his landing, but still fell on his back, while Teruko fell down on her front and the masked swordsman...

"Gya!" …landed on his feet, with his right one on top of the girl with the pink kimono.

"The room freakin' spun around! This is fun! This is fun!" He said with a laugh, still stepping over Teruko.

Tanjiro saw this and quickly ran towards them before grabbing the other demon hunter from the right foot and throwing him away.

"Don't stomp all over her!" The Kamado yelled as the masked swordsman landed on the floor and he tended to the younger girl.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked.

"What do you think you're doing stepping on a little kid like that?" Tanjiro reproached him as he held Teruko with one arm so she wouldn't fall down when the room spun around again.

"I like it! I like it!" The dual wielder answered, not sounding the least bit sorry. "No human's ever sent me flying like that before!" With those words, he lunged towards the red haired swordsman, making him step back to avoid his swords.

'Why is he coming after me? Isn't he a demon slayer?'

"My swords will hurt you, because they're not the kind of swords you little gentlemen use!" He moved the right one a bit, as if showing it off. "The way they shred through flesh… that's what I pride myself on!"

"Knock it off! There's a demon right there, you know!"

"Like I care!" He answered before lunging again.

"Damn insects! Out of my sight! Die!" The demon demanded, hitting the tsuzumi in his stomach.

Both swordsmen quickly jumped back, avoiding the sudden slash-like attack that ripped through the tatami they stood on a second ago.

'The floor ripped apart at the same speed as the sound of the tsuzumi, in the shape of a beast's claws!' Tanjiro quickly analyzed.

The demon sent another slash attack, this one towards the demon hunter with the boar mask, before hitting the tsuzumi in his right shoulder.

'Spinning right!' The Kamado thought, committing to memory which tsuzumi does what while also making sure to soften his landing so Teruko wouldn't get hurt. 'Spinning left!' He noted when the demon hit the tsuzumi in his left shoulder.

Said demon muttered something again before hitting two tsuzumis, the one in his right shoulder followed by the one in his right hip, the sudden changes making the man with the boar mask fall out of the room.

'I'm starting to get the hang of it!' Tanjiro thought, his sight moving towards the demon after making sure the other swordsmen was alright.

Suddenly, the room changed again, turning into what looked like a small dining room with only a table on it, making the demon and demon hunter disappear from sight.

'We're in another room… but what does this mean? That demon didn't strike his tsuzumi just now.' He thought, loosing his grip on Teruko and trying to pick up the demon's scent. 'I'm picking up the scent of multiple demons in this house; is there another demon with a tsuzumi, then? Is that why…' He trailed off when he smelled blood from outside the room.

"It's gonna be all right, okay?" He reassured Teruko, letting her stand on her own feet. "Just stay behind me."

"Okay." The girl nodded nervously.

Tanjiro slowly opened the door and looked both ways to check for movement, he didn't find any but.

'Another human ripped to shreds and devoured!' He lamented, seeing a body towards his right.

"Wh-what's the matter?"

"It's all right." Tanjiro answered, forcing a smile on his face. "There are no demons around. Come on, let's head over there." He guided her, making sure to go to the left and using his body to block the view on the other side until they had their back on the dead body. "Without a backward glance. Look straight ahead, okay?" He said, hoping to spare her from that sight.

.

A few minutes later.

'There's another scent, a unique scent of blood I've never smelled before.' Tanjiro thought. 'Looks like there wasn't that much bleeding.' Before they reached the door to the next room, Tanjiro moved his arm in front of Teruko and brought a finger to his mouth to signal for her to be silent, to which she nodded.

He quietly moved in front of the door before quickly opening it to reveal…

* * *

Under the current circumstance, there are next to no things that a kid like Shoichi could be grateful for; his brother was kidnapped by a monster and he is trapped inside said monster's house with no way out but, if there is one thing that he can say thanks for is the fact that his sister is most likely with Tanjiro, someone that looked a lot more reliable than the swordsman he is with.

In front of him, Zenitsu continued to take slow steps, trembling with each one as the blond kept a firm grip on his hand.

While Shoichi was far from calm, if compared to the swordsman in front of him, he looked like Buddha.

"Excuse me, Zenitsu-san."

"Kyaaa!" In response to his call, the blond let out a shriek before turning around and fall to his knees while hugging the younger boy. "Signal… signal… signal… signal me first!" He said, looking to be on the verge of tears. "If you want to talk, don't come at me all of a sudden! My heart nearly flew out of my mouth just now!"

"…I'm sorry." The kid said with a resigned expression.

"If that had come to pass, that would've made you a murderer for sure! Do you get that?"

"It's just that… see… you've been sweating, gasping and shivering so horribly."

"What about it?!" Zenitsu yelled. "Aren't I doing the best I can here?!"

"Well, forgive me for saying so, but you're making me nervous, too, so… "

"Oh no! Sorry about that!" The blond apologized sincerely. "Even still… even still… if we talk too much, those demons and all will… they might find us, right? That's why… I think it would be best to be as quiet as possible! Right?" The swordsman explained himself. 'We really need to be quiet, if a demon finds us then we're both dead, we can't risk it and why does Shoichi-kun look so scared all of a sudden?!'

"Eh?" Zenitsu slowly turned around in the direction the boy was looking.

"Kehehe, a couple of kids. Probably most agreeable to the tongue." A demon with green eyes, two horns on its head and an abnormally long tongue said as it crawled from under the foundation of the house.

"What did I tell you?! A demon showed up! A demon showed up, understand?!" Zenitsu shrieked, quickly grabbing Shoichi's hand and began to run away with him. "Stay away! Stay away from us! Stop that!" He continued to shriek as the demon followed the two while walking in all fours. "W-w-we don't taste good! I'm sure I taste awful! I'm serious, okay? This kid's all skin and bones, so he's all dry and tastes ghastly!"

"How will I know until I have a taste?" The demon asked back amused before its tongue extended towards them.

Zenitsu saw it coming and quickly moved to the right to dodge it, bringing Shoichi with him, and the tongue instead hit a vase that was sitting in the hallway.

"What was that? Quick-tongued! Splitting a vase in two!" The demon didn't bother to answer and simply extended its tongue again. "That's just not possible!" The blond dodged once again, crashing through a door to another room and landing on the ground.

"Zenitsu-san! Get up!" Shoichi said.

"Ahhhh! It's on my knees now! 80 percent of my fear is in my knees!"

"This is no time to whine, all right?!" The kid answered.

"Just leave me behind, okay? Make a run for it!" Zenitsu said, still trembling and trying to get his legs to listen.

"I can't do something like that!"

'Ah! What a great kid he is! Even though I'm making terrified sounds like this!' The swordsman thought, partially in shock. 'I gotta find a way somehow! If I don't protect him, what will become of him? Dying before he reaches double digits would be way too tragic! But I'm so horribly weak! I don't have the ability to protect him!'

"Get up!" Shoichi yelled.

'But if I don't protect him…'

"Kehehehe." His thoughts were interrupted by the demon that finally reached them and continued to crawl towards them. "I'm gonna guzzle your brain matter through your ears!"

_Snap_

"Zenitsu-san!" Shoichi called out when the blond suddenly went limp. "Zenit- he's fast asleep."

Indeed, Zenitsu had suddenly fallen asleep.

"What's up with him?" The demon thought out loud, genuinely confused but not enough to stop moving towards the two.

Shoichi began to drag Zenitsu backwards with him until his back hit the wall, leaving him with no way out.

"Die!" The demon yelled, extending his tongue to kill them.

"Fourth form. Distant Thunder!" Before the tongue could reach them it was suddenly cut in three different places and the demon jumped back before one of the slashes made contact with his neck.

"Well, you're not the demon from before but I guess I'll settle with you until I find that bastard." Someone said from behind the paper wall that separated the rooms, which was now torn off due to the attack.

"Wh-who…?" Shoichi asked, looking at the swordsman as he ripped apart what was left of the wall and walked in. 'I-I remember him, he was with Tanjiro-san and Zenitsu-san, he is the one that entered before them.'

.

Kaigaku looked at the demon and then towards the unconscious Zenitsu and the kid he was with.

"Tch, pathetic." He muttered as he saw his sibling disciple. "And what the hell is a kid doing here…? Well, whatever." The Kanoe ignored the two humans and moved his sight towards the tongue demon.

"I really don't like it when someone interrupts my meal." He said as his tongue regenerated.

"Like I care, prepare to lose your head." The swordsman said back with a scowl as he prepared his sword and took a deep breath. 'Thunder Breathing. Fifth form. Heat lighting.' He rushed towards the demon and performed a downwards slash, the tongue demon managed to jump back to avoid it and quickly sent out his tongue, only for it to get slashed again.

"Tch." The demon retracted it back and got some distance from the demon hunter before once again lashing out with his tongue, this time repeatedly using it to stab his enemy, not even bothering to let it fully regenerate before lashing out again.

'Annoying!' Kaigaku cursed as he continued to dodge, parry, or cut the tongue while moving forward to close the distance.

"Kehehe." But every time he was about to get in range for an attack, the demon jumped away to gain more distance, making him start again.

'He isn't even strong, I can avoid his tongue in my sleep, he just has an annoyingly long range!'

'_The first form is the basis of all other forms Kaigaku, I'm sure when you learn it you will become even more powerful._'

'Shut up, old man!' The swordsman yelled in his mind, moving back and taking another deep breath. 'I don't need the first form! Thunder Breathing. Sixth Form. Electric Lighting Shower!' Kaigaku swung his sword around him, sending a multitude of thunder-like slashes around himself. "Die!"

"Damn it!" Tongue demon yelled, losing one of his arms to the slashes and one of his legs almost being cut off as well before he moved far enough back to be out of range.

"Die already!" The black haired man roared, repeating the same technique once again.

The demon this time managed to jump back to avoid all of the slashes while his body regenerated and sent his tongue forward to skewer him.

'Too easy!' Kaigaku thought, side-stepping the attack and rushing forward.

"Eh?! Ahhh!" But in his rush to attack, he forgot to take into account the fact that Zenitsu and the kid he brought with him were still in the room and right behind him.

Shoichi could do nothing but close his eyes as the attack continued to move closer.

'Damn it, I forgot about them!' Kaigaku cursed, knowing he can't the stop the attack now.

_Shing_

"…eh?" But he didn't need to; the tongue that was moving towards the two was suddenly cut. "What the…?" The black haired swordsman stared in disbelief as Zenitsu got up and moved as if protecting the kid.

"Zenitsu-san?" Shoichi called out.

There was something different about him, the trembling was gone and he didn't seem to have any intention of running away.

Wordlessly, Zenitsu moved his left leg back and slightly bended his right one while holding the grip of his sword with his right hand and using the left one to hold the scabbard.

'That's…' Kaigaku trailed off, identifying that stance.

A hissing sound was heard when Zenitsu took a deep breath and…

"Thunder Breathing, First Form. Thunderclap and Flash."

It was instantaneous.

One moment Zenitsu was standing in front of Kaigaku's eyes and the next one he had moved faster than he could see and cut off the demon's head.

'What... what was that? I know he can only do the first form but… but when did he get so fast?!' The Kanoe was speechless as he turned around to see his sibling disciple just as the demon's head fell to the ground.

"Ah."

Zenitsu turned around just in time to see the demon's head roll over to his feet and.

"Kyaa! It's dead!" Scream in apparent fear as the demon's body turned to ash and disappeared. "All of a sudden, it's dead! What the hell? I can't take this!" Both Kaigaku and Shoichi could only stare in disbelief as the blond continued to rant until he spotted the other demon hunter. "Ah, Kaigaku! Thank you so much for saving us!" He yelled.

"Wh-what…?"

"I'm sorry you had to go through the trouble but thank you all the same, I will endeavor to repay you some day!"

"…tch, whatever, just get the kid out of here; I'm going after the tsuzumi demon." Kaigaku answered, already moving towards the door.

"Ah, wait! Please don't go! You have to protect us at least until we manage to leave the house or-"

"Shut up! Protect yourself!" The other Thunder Breath user snapped as he ran down the corridor and away from the other two.

"Eh?! But- wait!" But he was long gone.

"Hm, Zenitsu-san?"

"Shoichi-kun, I'm sho shorry for not being able to protect you!" The blonde said through tears. "I'm sho happy you're alive and well!"

"Ah… right… let's go now, okay?" The kid answered, not sure how to begin to explain what just happened.

"Yeah." Zenitsu nodded meekly.

* * *

'What the hell was that?!' Kaigaku couldn't help but keep repeating that moment in his mind. 'Zenitsu is supposed to be a coward that can't fight so how the hell did he do that?!' If anyone asked him to describe his sibling disciple, the words 'coward' and 'useless' would be the first things that come to mind so the scene from before didn't make sense to him, it was as if someone had just thrown a peach to the ground and it went flying up instead of falling. 'I know he could only learn the first form of Thunder Breathing but he was nowhere near that fast when I saw him use it and then he tells me that I saved him?! Was he mocking me or something?!'

"Self-taught… Beast Breathing." His musings were interrupted when he heard someone talking. "It's gonna be so worth it to shred such a huge target!"

'A demon?' He quickly unsheathed his weapon and checked the corner to see what was happening.

"You've got guts to charge me head-on like that!" A large, oversized demon chuckled as he extended his arms towards his assailant.

Only for them to be cut off from his body by the assailant's twin blades, making him recoil.

"Flaunt your corpse and serve as my springboard!" The swordsman responsible yelled as he laughed and used both his blades to sever the demon's neck from his spine. "Third Fang Devour!" He then kicked the body down and continued forward, landing with his feet against the wall and jumping off to the ground before stopping and turning around. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm a Demon Slayer, rank Kanoe…" Kaigaku trailed off as he checked the demon's body and saw it turn to ash. "You're also a member of the corps?"

"Hmm… you're not the one with red hair or the one that keeps making noise with his body parts." Completely ignoring his question, the man with the boar mask turned around and began running away from Kaigaku while repeating. "Comin' through! Comin' through!"

"Oi, wait!" The black haired swordsman yelled, quickly giving chase. "Come back here and explain what's happening!"

He didn't do so but Kaigaku didn't have a problem keeping pace with the dual wielder.

_Dun_

"I said wait- huh?" That is, until a tsuzumi was heard right after the masked hunter entered a room and when he tried to follow, the space shifted and when Kaigaku opened the door he was supposed to have gone through, he was gone. "Tch, that demon's ability again." Slamming the door shut, he continued down the hallway, his previous thoughts about Zenitsu momentarily forgotten thanks to the distraction.

* * *

"Kiyoshi-nii-chan!" Teruko yelled, quickly running towards the boy sitting in the middle of the room past a second set of doors. "Onii-chan! Onii-chan!"

"Teruko!" The teen wearing a persimmon colored kimono said in relief, letting the tsuzumi he was holding on the ground to hug his sister.

'Their brother's safe, that's a relief.' Tanjiro thought, calmly approaching the two.

"W-who's he?" Kiyoshi asked, a bit fearful.

"I'm Kamado Tanjiro. I've come to defeat evil demons." The red haired teen answered him with a smile before kneeling to be at eye level. "Now then, show me your wounds; good for you for hanging in there on your own."

Suddenly Kiyoshi began crying, using one hand to cover his eyes.

'He must have been blocking out the fear and now that help came… he must be so relieved that he couldn't help but break down in tears.' The Kamado thought before coming up with an idea to make him feel better.

Tanjiro deliberately raised a package inside his haori as high as possible.

"Now this ointment here is amazing!" He said as if he was trying to sell it. "My master gave it to me!"

It seemed to have the desired effect, as Kiyoshi calmed down a bit and let the swordsman check the wound in his right leg.

"My master wears a tengu mask." Tanjiro said to avoid the silence as he applied the ointment on the wound.

"A tengu mask? Really?"

"Yes, it's true." He answered. "My master's ointment is so amazing, it works in a split second." Having finished with the ointment, he took a bandage and tied it around the boy's leg. "Okay, you're all set! Well? The pain's gone, isn't it?"

"Yes!" Kiyoshi confirmed with a small smile.

With the wounds taken care of, Tanjiro began to ask for information.

"Do you think you can tell me what happened here?"

The small smile in the boy's face was instantly wiped out, replaced with a look of horror.

"A monster dragged me away, a-and I nearly got devoured." He began, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. "But just then, another monster showed up out of nowhere, a-and they started fighting to the death over who was gonna get to e-eat me." Kiyoshi took another pause after those last two words, Tanjiro patiently waited for him to recover. "A-and then, the one with the tsuzumi growing out of him… when the other monster defeated him, he dropped a tsuzumi! And when I picked it up and struck it, the room suddenly changed. And I somehow held on until now!" By the time he finished talking, Kiyoshi was trembling uncontrollably at the memories.

"A demon with tsuzumi growing out of him… so that was him?" Tanjiro thought out loud, remembering the demon Teruko and he encountered before. "He mentioned marechi or something like that."

"That's right!" Kiyoshi exclaimed. "He kept calling me 'marechi'!"

"CAW! What is marechi? It refers to the owner of rare blood!" Tanjiro's crow suddenly yelled, having appeared out of nowhere. "You little brats! I'm going to peck you now." It said with a chuckle as the siblings hugged each other in shock at the talking bird.

"Cut it out!" Tanjiro reprimanded as he grabbed the crow. "What do you mean by rare blood?"

"The blood of all living things can be categorized into types, idiot!" The crow said, jumping back to the ground and extending its wings. "And the ultimate marechi… the more scarce the blood, the more uncommon… for a demon! A single marechi human has the same nutritional value as eating fifty! One hundred humans! For demons, marechi is a feast! Marechi is their favorite food!" The three humans heard the explanation, Tanjiro dreading what would have happened if that demon had actually managed to eat Kiyoshi before they got here while the two siblings simply shook in fear.

'This scent…' Tanjiro thought as a certain smell entered his nostrils. 'It's that demon with the tsuzumi!'

The swordsman quickly turned to the two kids.

"I'm leaving this room now!" He said, startling Kiyoshi. "Keep calm." Tanjiro quickly reassured him, grabbing his shoulders and looking him in the eyes. "It's all right. I'm just going to take down that demon." While clearly afraid, the teen didn't object, so the Kamado turned towards the girl. "Listen to me, Teruko." She turned towards him and Tanjiro placed a hand on her head. "Right now, your brother is terribly exhausted. So, you gotta look after him, okay?" He took back his hand and instructed her. "As soon as I leave the room, strike that tsuzumi and move out. Just like Kiyoshi's been doing until now, whenever someone tries to open the door or you hear something, strike that tsuzumi right away and make a run for it." Tanjiro again looked at both of them. "I promise to come get you, I'll follow your scent. I'll call out your names when I open the door." To Tanjiro, this was the best course of action; that demon was still approaching and having to fight it while also making sure they were alright would be difficult at best, especially if he decided to ignore the demon hunter and focus on the two kids.

But that doesn't mean they would see it that way.

'I don't really know him but if he really is here to defeat the monsters then he must be strong, if he leaves…'

'Tanjiro-san was protecting me before, I-I don't want him to leave.'

To Kiyoshi and Teruko, Tanjiro was the person that could keep them safe in this house of monsters, the idea of separating, even with the means to run away literally at their fingertips, would obviously terrify them.

"You just have to hold out a little longer." The Kamado said seriously, his expression conveying that this was the best course of action better than his words could. "You can do it, right?"

After a few seconds, and although still clearly afraid, the two siblings nodded in unison making the Kamado smile.

"Good for you! You're so strong!" It wasn't a lie, just the fact that Kiyoshi had the idea to use the tsuzumi instead of freezing in terror and that Teruko and her other brother followed the demon to the house was proof of that.

The swordsman's expression turned serious as he stood up and looked towards the door of the room.

"I'm heading out." A few seconds after he said that, the tsuzumi demon peeked inside the room.

Tanjiro immediately dashed forward, ordering the kids to hit the tsuzumi after passing the first set of doors between him and his foe.

"Damn insects! So infuriating!" The demon muttered as he also entered the room and hit the tsuzumi in his right shoulder twice.

'The room will spin to the right twice!' The Kamado thought as he unsheathed his sword and adjusted his stance to land on the roof that now acted as the floor while the demon was still in the actual floor, openly mocking the common sense that says he should have fallen to the roof as well.

'Some lights and I see a few chests and chest drawers next to the walls, other than that there is nothing of note in the room.' The red haired teen thought as he did a quick overview of his surroundings.

_Dun_

'The claw attack!' He was already ducking before even finishing that thought, avoiding the demon's attack from the tsuzumi in his stomach.

_Dun_

'Another right.' Tanjiro quickly rolled as the room spun to soften his fall.

_Dun_

'This one is a left.' He thought, seeing the demon hit the tsuzumi in his left shoulder. 'I remember from before that the one in his right leg spins the room forwards so the left leg must spin it backwards.'

_Dun_

'And the one in his belly launches that claw attack!' The Kamado finished his assessment as he dodged said attack by jumping.

_Dun, dun, dundun._

The demon began to beat different tsuzumi in sequence, making the room spin in several directions, eventually making it so that gravity was sending Tanjiro towards him.

'Now!'

The swordsman took the opportunity and prepared to slash at his foe but it hit the tsuzumi in his belly, forcing him to kick the wall to push himself to the side in order to dodge the claw attack.

'So fast!' Tanjiro noted, trying to recover. 'The speed of the rotations and attacks is devastating!' He thought as he landed with his left leg. 'Ghg-!' And immediately bit back a grunt of pain to not let the demon know he was hurt. 'Tamayo-san did treat my wounds, but these injuries aren't fully healed yet!'

Despite himself, doubt began to creep in Tanjiro's mind

'It hurts! I've been enduring it, I endured it back when I pulled Zenitsu off that girl and when I reprimanded Kaigaku but the pain is horrible! I was able to withstand it because I'm the eldest son! But I couldn't have if I were the second one!' He spun in the air and landed on a crouch, biting back another pained grunt. 'Whenever I dig in, the broken parts creak, and I can't muster any strength.' The Kamado tried to take a second to recover but the demon beat the tsuzumi in his stomach, forcing him to jump to avoid it and leaving another claw mark on the tatami. 'The marks left by the attack scare me so much I can't get closer! Since I'm not at full strength, if I charge forward to get within striking distance and a flash of pain makes me stumble…' An image of his own body cut into pieces flashed through his head and he shook his head to try and get rid of the image. 'My injuries are making me imagine the most awful things! Don't think like that!' He once again rolled to soften his landing when the room spun again. 'Think back to your training, find something there!'

_'Water can change into any form.' _Tanjiro remembered the words of Urokodaki.

_'Pour it into a container, and it's a square. Pour it into a bottle, and it's round.'_ This time it was Sabito.

'_Sometimes, it can even smash boulders and flow away as far as the eye can see._' Now it was Makomo.

'That's right! There are ten Water Breathing forms! Made so the users can battle any kind of opponent!'

'_You can't always fight your enemies in peak condition, what will you do if you're ever in such a situation?_'

'Adapt my moves to compensate!' The Kamado answered to the Makomo in his mind.

'_As water, you can take any form…_'

'And your flow will never be stopped!' The red haired teen finished Sabito's sentence.

_Dun dun_

'Right now, it's not just my bones! My heart's also been broken!' He realized, falling to the ground due to another rotation from the room.

'_Ehhh?! A broken Tanjiro's not gonna do any good!_' Zenitsu's words from earlier came to mind-

"ALL RIGHT! If you could please quiet down!" And Tanjiro squashed them and threw them out of his head.

'Look straight ahead! Rouse yourself! Give it all you've got, Tanjiro!' He rose his face still in a pained scowl and changed it into a determined glare. 'Give it all you've got!' Gripping his sword tighter, he moved it over his head while kneeling on the ground, with the edge towards the ceiling and the tip towards the tsuzumi demon.

"I've done a good job until now! I have what it takes! And not today or any time in the future! Even if I'm broken, I'll never give up no matter what!" Tanjiro declared, more to himself than his enemy, to vanish the last of his doubts. 'Here I go!'

His spirit no longer broken, Tanjiro dashed forward towards the demon…

_Dun_

And was quickly sent to the side by the room spinning left.

'I can do it! I know I can do it!' Tanjiro tried to keep his footing even with the rotation but was sent to the ground when the demon beat a tsuzumi again. 'I'm a guy who gets things done-gh!' Again his wounds acted up. 'Broken bones or not… no matter what…'

_DunDun_

Two rotations, one to the right and another forward but he managed to adapt to it in time to land.

'I can do it! I can fight!'

Another beat of the tsuzumi flipped the room on its head, sending Tanjiro falling towards the ceiling that now acted as the floor.

The demon hunter had just landed when the claw attack moved towards him making him jump to avoid it but, while he was still in mid-air, the demon began to spin the room around, making him crash against the walls repeatedly.

The Kamado managed to catch a break when the room spun and he grabbed one of the lamps, that were now on the 'wall', to stop himself from falling.

'It's no good! Nothing's changed at all! Spirit alone isn't gonna get me anywhere! Use your head, not just spirit!' But even if he knows that, it's not like the tsuzumi demon was just going to give him the time to think.

_Dun_

Tanjiro let go of the lamp to avoid the claw attack, almost falling through the doors that got off their hinges when he fell against them but managing to grab the edge of the doorway to remain in the room.

'Close call! I barely survived that one!'

"Damn! This is so annoying! I gotta consume some marechi! There's no time to lose!" The demon groaned as he struck his tsuzumi again to spin the room on its head, making the human fall to the ground just after he got on his feet.

'There isn't even time to stop and think!' Tanjiro quickly forced his body to the side when he heard the claw attack approaching.

"Hey you! What's your name?"

The demon was clearly taken aback by the sudden question, not used to anyone, demon or human, asking for such a thing.

"Kyogai." It was partially because of the surprise, that he stopped his attacks for a second and answered.

"Kyogai! I'm not handing over Kiyoshi… the marechi over to you!" Tanjiro declared, trying to keep him talking in order to buy himself time to think. "I'm not gonna cave! I'm not giving up!"

'If I use Total Concentration Breathing constantly I might be able to move but…' He remembered how quickly he lost his strength when stopping his converted comrade's blade from cutting Tamayo's head. 'No, I can't maintain it yet and I won't be lucky and have the sun buy me time to recover against this one.'

"I'm going to get my hands on some marechi!" Kyogai roared in anger, the pupils in his eyes becoming visible as they rolled from the back of his head and showing that the kanji for 'Lower Moon Six' with an X shaped scar over it. "And reclaim my place among the Twelve Demon Moons!"

'Twelve Demon Moons?!' Tanjiro repeated in his mind. 'Even if he is a former member… no matter what, I have to get his blood!' An image of Nezuko before she was turned flashed through his mind. 'I'll definitely make you human again!' The swordsman declared in his mind as he prepared his stance.

Kyogai moved to hit his tsuzumi again…

'Hm?!' But suddenly ducked, avoiding a slash from someone at his back. He then hit the tsuzumi in his left leg, causing the room to spin forwards and causing his assailant to fall inside the room due to the change in gravity.

"Kaigaku-san?!" Tanjiro said when he saw his senior land.

"Tch, so close." The black haired swordsman muttered with a scowl. "But I heard that, you're a former member of the Twelve Demon Moons, right?"

"All of you, keep barging into my home…" Kyogai didn't answer; he just bared his teeth at them and roared. "Insects! Disappear from my sight!"

* * *

**And here is another one!**

**Again, not much has changed except for Kaigaku's participation but next time we have Tanjiro and Kaigaku vs Kyogai.**

**Now, how will that play out? And what will be the ramifications for it? And why am I asking you when I'm the one that should know?**

**Let's see if you can get some answers next time!**

**Before I leave you, I want to remind you once more that TanKana Week starts next week, I'll be working on my contributions for it so next chapter may take a bit.**

**With all that said, I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to leave a review!**

**Until next time!**


	16. Water conducts lighting

**Water conducts lighting**

**Hello again everyone!**

**I hope you enjoyed TanKana Week, because I sure did, there were really good submissions.**

**But, you're not here to listen about that, so let's move onto the chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba.**

* * *

"Kaigaku-san, those tsuzumi-"

_Dun_

The room suddenly spun to the right, sending both demon hunters towards the wall, which now acted as the floor, and interrupting Tanjiro.

"I know, they change the room and have a claw-like attack." The Kanoe said with a growl.

"Yes, the one in the belly is the claw-attack-"

_Dun_

"The shoulders make the room spin right or left respectively." The teen with the fox mask continued, even as he prepared to land after another rotation. "Left leg spins it backwards and the right one forwards."

Kaigaku didn't answer but made sure to remember the information.

"Insects, die!" Kyogai growled, hitting various tsuzumi to make the room spin in different directions, as well as mixing in the claw attack among them to kill the two.

'Tch, annoying!' Kaigaku cursed as he tried to maintain his balance long enough to lunge towards the demon but, every time he managed to land, the room was already spinning in a different way. 'I just need a moment; I'll use one of the lights to stop and then jump.' He did as such when the next spin got him near the ceiling and prepared to-

"Kaigaku-san, look out!" Tanjiro yelled, the way the room spun had made him fall towards him.

Kaigaku looked up, some of the papers that began flying around after the claws broke the different chests in the room blocking his view for a second before he saw the Kamado. He had enough reflexes to move out of the way to avoid a collision but had let go of the light and was now spinning along with the room again.

"Oi, don't get in my way!"

"I'm sorry, the change in gravity is too fast!" The Mizunoto apologized.

The two landed on what was the floor and then jumped in opposite directions to avoid another claw-attack, to then have to adjust to a new rotation.

"Damn it with this annoying attack! Just give it up already!" Kaigaku gritted his teeth and tried to lunge but the rotation was too fast and forced him to the ground instead.

"_Just give it up, will you?_"

"You…!" Unbeknownst to Kaigaku, those words triggered a memory from Kyogai.

Back when he still looked like a human, before eating the amount of humans that made his body mutate into his current state.

"_It's so boring! Your writing is just so boring._" Someone had told him, Kyogai had long since forgotten his face but not his words, he could _never_ forget his words. "_Every last word is utter trash!_" The man had said, letting the story that Kyogai had made fall to the ground as if it belonged there. "_No beauty, no fragility, no impact. Why don't you forget about writing? It's just a waste of paper and fountain pens!_"

It wasn't the words that Kyogai was angry about, he obviously wasn't happy but criticism is something he had long gotten used to; even if it hurt.

"_You never even step outside anymore these days. So no wonder you're so boring!_"

'There is a reason for that' is not something Kyogai could say, since the reason isn't something that he could reveal without the man thinking he is crazy... right before having to kill him.

"_You should just enjoy your hobby, playing the tsuzumi as long as you're shut in here._" The man said with a hint of mockery in his tone. "_Not that you have the skill to teach that either._" He then began to walk away, purposely stepping over the paper that Kyogai had written and he had called trash.

If Kyogai were to look back, he would realize that this was the moment he lost the last remnants of his humanity; enraged at what the man had done to the work he had put so much effort in, he opened the front of his kimono to reveal a tsuzumi imbedded into his stomach.

_Dun_

With one tap, the man that had mocked his work was killed, his body being cut in pieces from his demon art's invisible claws.

"You…!" Kyogai growled, his eyes fixed on the black haired swordsman. "OUT OF MY SIGHT! YOU DAMN INSECT!" He roared, sending a shiver down the two demon hunters' spines. "Rapid drumming!"

'Don't tell me he can strike that tsuzumi even faster!' The two swordsmen thought in fear.

Kyogai began to hit all of the tsuzumi in his body at greater speeds to the point that the room didn't stop spinning, the constant rotations making Tanjiro, Kaigaku and the papers scattered to stay constantly in mid-air as the gravity was altered.

"Da-gh!" Kaigaku groaned as Tanjiro accidentally hit him due to the changes in gravity making it impossible for them to even try to dodge each other, it was impossible for them to move if the gravity was constantly changing and making them stay in the middle; even worse, it's not like the two humans were just floating in a fixed position, they kept spinning with the constant rotations, making them dizzy.

'This bastard! If the brat wasn't here-!'

"Kaigaku-san!" His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Tanjiro's voice, he turned in his direction, expecting to crash again but instead he saw the Kamado with his right leg aimed at him, looking as if he wants to kick him. "Use me as a footing to move!"

The Thunder Breath user didn't have time to question it, he moved by instinct and kicked the sole of his fellow demon hunter's foot, sending himself towards one of the walls, although which 'wall' changed at least three times by the time he got there and ended up being the ceiling where Kaigaku held onto one of the lights like before.

Tanjiro had taken advantage of the kick and used it to jump in the opposite direction, managing to grab onto one of the still intact chest drawers in the room which, like Kyogai, weren't affected by the rotations.

"Alright, from here- Kaigaku-san, behind you!" Tanjiro yelled, warning his comrade just in time for him to let go of the light and avoid the claw-attack that was sent his way. 'The marks… there are now five claws instead of three!' He noticed.

_Dun DunDun Dundundundundundundundundundundundun._

'It's too fast, I can barely hold on!' Tanjiro thought, trying to keep his hold on the chest drawer to avoid being swept in the changes of gravity. 'It's an incredible skill!' He thought, just before losing his grip and began to rotate along the room once more.

"Damn it, if I could get closer!" Kaigaku seethed, landing in a moment that the tsuzumi demon stopped rotating the room but immediately sent the claw attack, forcing him to dodge, only to crash against one of the walls when the rotations began again and caught him by surprise. "This annoying attack…!" The Kanoe growled. "Give it up already!" He screamed, taking a step forward to lunge, stepping over some of the scattered papers.

Kyogai saw it and immediately hit the tsuzumi in his belly three times, sending the invisible claws to attack from the front and sides of the demon hunter.

'Not good, I'm already moving forward… he'll get me!' A cold sweat formed in his brow, the image of his body been severed filling his mind at that moment.

"Kaigaku-san!" Tanjiro yelled, having moved even before Kyogai hit his tsuzumi and pushed him out of the way, barely managing to dodge the claws himself.

'That scent of anger; if I hadn't smelled it I couldn't have seen that attack coming.' The Kamado thought…

_Dundundundundundundundundundundundun_

…even as his body was being swung around due to his enemy's ability.

_Dun_

Another stop on the rotations was followed by the claw attack, directed at both swordsmen.

'Damn it, at this rate… crap!' The red haired swordsman saw several scattered papers with something written on them and quickly adjusted his landing to avoid stepping on them, accidentally taking a quick breath in order to move his injured leg when landing before properly regaining his stance. 'Just now… wait, the tsuzumi!' Tanjiro immediately got ready to continue adjusting his stance to compensate for the rotations or move out of the way of the claws but neither came; the sound of the tsuzumi had suddenly stopped. 'He's not attacking and this scent… later! Just now, I think I figured it out thanks to these papers.'

'Huh, why did it stop?' Kaigaku wondered after landing, noticing how the tsuzumi demon's constant onslaught had suddenly come to a halt and he was just standing there while staring at his junior. 'No matter, this is a chance!' He moved forward -_scrunch_\- and stepped over another paper, immediately regaining the attention of the demon, which began to hit his tsuzumi once more.

'Take quick and shallow breaths and use them to reinforce the muscles around my injuries.' Tanjiro did just that, a moment before the onslaught resumed.

_Dun_

'From the left.' He jumped over the claw attack.

_Dun_

'Rotation backward.' And easily fixed his stance in mid-air in order to land, then immediately moved to the side to avoid another claw. 'There is a scent of mold before the claws come.'

"Kaigaku-san, behind you!"

The Breath of Thunder user quickly looked back and jumped to the right to avoid the claws, spinning on the ground to quickly get back up.

"Next one is coming from your right!" Tanjiro yelled again, even as he dodged a claw attack directed at him.

'Wha-why?! It looked like I was just one step away from hitting them and now…' Kyogai thought, hitting his tsuzumi even faster in an attempt to get his enemies' but, every time, Tanjiro would dodge or call out the way the attack was coming for his partner.

"Kyogai, I will now cut off your head!" Tanjiro declared.

"Huh? What are you-"

'Breath of Water, Ninth Form.' The red haired swordsman didn't pay attention to his comrade's words and began to move, taking a few quick breaths to unleash a technique. 'Splashing Water Flow-Turbulent!'

Unlike the other Water Breathing forms, the ninth form is made solely for the purpose of mobility, allowing the user to minimize the landing time and area in order to move even without a solid footing.

Tanjiro moved forward, looking as if he was running on top of a puddle and splashing water around with each step.

'Move! Get in range!' The Kamado continued to run, quickly closing the distance even as Kyogai began to rotate the room in an attempt to stop his dash.

'This kid… wait, that!' For a moment, the master of the house felt fear but then noticed something.

_Dun_

He stroke the tsuzumi in his left leg once, making the room spin backwards so the wall behind him was the 'floor', then continuously sent claw attacks to impede the red haired teen's advance, not using rotations at all.

'Why did he- damn it!' Tanjiro realized what was happening a moment too late.

_Crash!_

The reason why Kyogai stopped rotating the room after that last one was because he had moved it in a way that Kaigaku was falling straight towards him, the claw attacks that followed were both so Tanjiro couldn't completely close the distance and to keep him too preoccupied to notice in time.

And his plan had been successful; both demon hunters were now on the floor, entangled with each other.

'Crap, just a bit more and-'

_Dun_

The Kamado gasped, his nose picking up the scent of mold even before he heard the tsuzumi.

He immediately kicked Kaigaku away and tried to move.

"Oi, stop kicking me you…" The black haired swordsman trailed off as he saw his junior's left arm bleeding.

'It was close, if I hadn't moved my arm so it was between the claws, I would have lost it.' Tanjiro didn't have the time to completely dodge the claws, his left arm was still in their striking range but after seeing the attack so many times, he noticed that the claws don't go that far off the ground, so he simply bended it in a way that it was between the set of claws.

He was still grazed on both sides but the wound had been superficial, partly thanks to his uniform.

_Dun_

But none of that mattered to Kyogai.

'Again!'

The moment he saw that his enemies were still alive, the demon resumed his onslaught, making the room spin around and mixing in his claw attacks to kill the two humans.

"Kaigaku-san, claw from your left!" Tanjiro called out. 'If I try to use the ninth form to close the distance, it will just be a repeat of before.' He quickly formulated a plan to avoid that scenario. "Kaigaku-san, I need you to hold onto a light or something the next time you land!"

"What? Why?"

"If he can't use you to interrupt me, I can get close to him and cut his head, I just need you to stay in one place for a few seconds!"

It was a simple plan but, at the same time, a very effective one.

Tanjiro had noticed during his first run that he _could_ close the distance with the ninth form, the rotations weren't enough of a deterrent for him and the claws could be easily dodged now that he could smell them coming; as long as Kaigaku isn't used to hit him from his blind spot, he should be able to get him in a second attempt.

"Huh?! You little brat! Are you implying I'm a nuisance?!" But he didn't take one thing into account, Kaigaku's pride.

"It's the best way to ensure we defeat him!" The Kamado argued, even as he kept adapting to the rotations and avoiding the claws.

"You little…!" The Breath of Thunder user couldn't say anything else; as much as it may anger him, Tanjiro's plan was their best option. "Fine, just do it quick!" He scoffed.

"Yes!"

Tanjiro immediately took a few quick breaths and unleashed the ninth form once more while Kaigaku saw his chance when the rotations sent him near one of the walls and he stabbed his sword in it to stay there.

'You better not fuck this up, brat!'

'This time for sure…!' The red haired swordsman continued forward, once again easily adapting to the rotations thanks to the Ninth Form and avoiding the claws sent his way.

_Dun_

'From behind… no, it's not for me!'

"Crap!" Kaigaku cursed, a claw was sent his way forcing him to pull his sword out of the wall and be at the mercy of the rotations once more.

_DunDunDun_

Kyogai hit a set of tsuzumi and made it so Kaigaku was falling towards Tanjiro once more.

"I'm not so stupid to fall for a plan you announced, insect!" The demon roared; hitting the tsuzumi in his belly, a claw began to move forwards in front of the teen with the fox mask.

'I thought as much.' Tanjiro jumped and spun backwards in mid-air to grab Kaigaku's arm. "GO!" He heaved the senior demon hunter above the claws and right in front of the demon's face.

"Heh!" The black haired swordsman smirked. "You're mine!"

"Wh-?!" Kyogai wasn't able to let out a word before the blade slashed through his neck and severed his head.

The room moved back to a normal position as Tanjiro and Kaigaku landed on the ground, this time without having to worry about dodging.

"_sigh_ Ow, ow, ow… I took a deep breath without thinking." The Kamado thought out loud, holding his side. 'I'm the eldest son, I'm the eldest son.'

"See that, asshole?!" But he got distracted from the pain when he heard his senior's words. "Why don't you try hitting those damn tsuzumi now, huh?!" He began to kick the body, particularly the tsuzumi that protruded from it, over and over.

"What are you doing?!" Tanjiro roared, ignoring the pain and pulling Kaigaku back. "The battle is over, there is no need to desecrate his body!"

The black haired swordsman stumbled for a moment at the sudden throw but quickly regained his balance and glared at his red haired junior.

"Huh?! What do you care?! That's a demon!"

"THAT'S NO REASON TO HIT A CORPSE!" He roared back.

"…tch, whatever, you're just an annoying brat, don't count on me coming to save your ass next time." With that, Kaigaku simply walked out of the room and away from him.

'…I need to get the blood for Tamayo-san.' The Kamado thought after confirming the Kanoe wasn't near him anymore and calming his anger at the way he acted.

He looked inside his haori until finding what he was looking for, a small knife with a glass container inside of the grip, he kneeled next to Kyogai's body then calmly stabbed the torso and some blood immediately was drawn and stored inside the object.

'So it really does extract the blood automatically if you stick it in there.' He thought, this being the first time he's seen it. 'Yushiro-san sure is skilled, creating something like this.'

"Meow."

Tanjiro turned to the sound of a cat, seeing a small, tricolor calico cat with black, white and brown spots, amber colored eyes, a brown box on its back and a necklace with one of Yushiro's talismans hanging from it.

"A cat? Ah… you're the one who's going to deliver this to Tamayo-san, huh?" He approached the cat and pet his head with one hand while placing the blood sample on the box. "There, there; thanks!" He made sure it was properly stowed away before closing the box. "You're all set, take care now!"

The cat hopped away and meowed, disappearing from sight.

'They did tell me that it would be invisible due to Yushiro-san's spell until it meowed and then vanish when it meowed again… I guess I'm a bit weirded out because it's the first time I see it…'

"Alright… I should go search for Kiyoshi and Teruko."

"Kid." Before Tanjiro could get up, he heard Kyogai's voice and turned.

His head was still there but his body was already nothing but a torso with stubs.

"Why did you dodge them?"

"Dodge them…? What do you mean?" The red haired teen asked with a confused look.

"Those papers, before you began to adapt to the rotations, why did you dodge them?"

"…someone wrote on them, they're not meant to be stepped on." He answered as if it was obvious.

The demon's eyes widened at the answer.

'This scent…'

"Why did you seem so obsessed with getting Kiyoshi?"

"I guess that's the marechi's name." Kyogai mumbled. "I just wanted to get my rank among the Twelve Demon Moons back, eating a marechi would have been a big step towards that."

"Why did you want to get it back?"

"Why?! You ask why?!" Kyogai roared, seemingly angry. "I… huh… why was it… why did I want to go back? …it seemed obvious before but…" He trailed off as his body finished crumbling away, his head beginning to follow suit.

'It's similar to Shohei-san, he couldn't even think properly.'

"Kyogai-san." Tanjiro called out to get his attention. "It's too late now but… if I had told you that there was a way for you to live as a demon without eating people… would you have accepted?"

The demon became speechless, more because Tanjiro added an honorific to his name than because of the question.

"Kyogai-san?"

"…ah… no, we were in the middle of a battle, I would have ignored you." He was dying, there was no point in telling a lie. "But…" So he will say everything. "If… if you had met me sooner, before I was too far down this path to ever come back… I might have."

"…I see."

'That look… how can you feel sorry for a demon?' Kyogai wanted to say that but his mouth had already disappeared. 'It's strange, even though I'm dying… I don't feel bad at all.'

"Thank you for answering me." Tanjiro said. "I don't know if I would have been able to convince you if I met you before but… I can say this much, your Blood Demon Art was amazing."

Tears began to fall from the demon's eyes but there was no sadness, Tanjiro's nose could tell that much.

'My… writing… it wasn't trash at all.' Kyogai thought, still staring at the Kamado's eyes as his mind slipped away. 'At the very least, not to that kid. He saw fit not to trample on it.'

"Rest in peace." Tanjiro said as the last of the demon's body began to vanish.

'Both my Blood Demon Art… and my tsuzumi playing… have been recognized.' Just knowing that allowed Kyogai to leave this world happily.

* * *

'I know they're in this direction.' Tanjiro thought as he ran through the house after leaving his former enemy's final resting place and stopping the bleeding from his left arm.

"Kiyoshi! Teruko!" He called out like he said he would to let them know he's coming. 'There!' The Kamado slid open the doors of the room he smelled the two from. "Kiyoshi! Teruko!"

"Yaaa!" And immediately dodged a book that was thrown his way.

"Wh-" Then what looked like a vase. "Gah!" But got hit by a second book, right in his forehead.

"Ah."

"Tanjiro-san…"

"Why are you throwing stuff at me?" The demon hunter complained, holding his head.

"We're so sorry!" The other male said quickly. "The tsuzumi vanished, so we panicked."

"I see." Tanjiro smiled and approached the two. "Well, I'm glad you're safe."

"W-wahhh." Teruko then began crying. 'He's here so… that means… that means… the monster won't come after us anymore!'

"You did a good job hanging in there." The Kamado said as he patted her head to calm her down. "You, too, Kiyoshi." The teen with the persimmon haori nodded, also relieved. "Come on, let's go outside." Tanjiro kneeled and put his hands behind him. "Climb on my back."

The younger male did as told and Tanjiro carried him towards the exit with Teruko following behind him.

"Is your leg okay?" He asked as they walked.

"Yes!"

"You just have to be brave a little longer… ah, I'm picking up Zenitsu and Shoichi's scent." The Kamado said happily. "They must be outside. Both of them safe-" 'I smell blood!'

"What's wrong?" Kiyoshi asked when Tanjiro suddenly stopped.

"Nothing." The swordsman answered to avoid worrying them. "Let's hurry!"

He picked up the pace, worried about the scent of blood, and soon arrived at the entrance where…

* * *

Shortly after Kyogai was defeated.

'Damn brat!' Kaigaku cursed as he looked for the exit in what might as well be a maze. 'What the hell does he care if I kick a dead demon?! I cut off his head and it would have been easier if he didn't keep crashing against me inside that room.' Regardless of how true that statement might be, it was fact to Kaigaku.

He does not like this squad system idea. At all. While having people that can aid you in battle _could_ be beneficial, that only applies in situations where your partner or partners have the skill to pull that off and, in his opinion, there aren't many members that can do that for him.

That is not entirely untrue either; so far, almost every other demon hunter he has encountered has been weaker than him to the point he has to wonder how they have a similar rank but, while Kaigaku won't admit it, or at least not willingly, he knows that the Pillars are stronger than him.

Before he was assigned as Zenitsu's overseer, he happened to encounter the Sound Pillar when a mission sent him to the same town as his; when the fight began the Pillar had, quite literally, cut off the demon's head before Kaigaku could even realize it.

It was a bit of a humbling experience for him, Kaigaku thinks of himself as someone strong and he is certainly stronger than most members of the corps, thanks in no small part to the fact he was trained by a former Pillar, but it's because of that strength that, in the few instances that he had worked together with another demon hunter it had went with him having to pull all the weight since his 'partner' couldn't really keep up with his movements.

The experiences had left him with distaste towards the idea of having someone to fight at his side since, to him, it seemed more like a burden.

Still, he was willing to give the whole 'overseer' thing a chance. Who knows? Maybe the person he has to watch over would be strong or, at least, be able to tell others how strong he is, increasing his chances of gaining another promotion.

That idea went out the window when he heard who he had to watch over.

Agatsuma Zenitsu.

The moment that name came from his crow's beak, Kaigaku had to stop himself from choking it.

Out of all the people, it had to be _him_, the trash that couldn't do anything and just wasted his master's time; part of him was genuinely surprised he had survived the Final Selection but scratched it to luck.

He almost ditched him but they were orders from headquarters so he reluctantly met with the blonde and the two began to travel together.

It was as bad as he expected, Zenitsu cowered away at the sight of demons leaving him to deal with them on his own, he was nothing but trash that got in his way-

_'Thunderclap and Flash.'_

"That!" Kaigaku growled, thinking so much of his junior brought to mind the way he dispatched that demon with the long tongue. 'What the hell was that?! And what was that whole 'thank you for saving us' bullshit?!'

"Zenitsu-san! Zenitsu-san!"

"Huh?" Kaigaku was so focused on his own thoughts that he didn't realize when he got outside.

The sun was still up in the sky and, despite the way the inside moved, it didn't look like that had any effect on the outside.

"Zenitsu-san!" The black haired swordsman turned towards that voice, seeing the aforementioned Zenitsu and the kid that was with him inside the mansion.

"What the…?"

"Ah, excuse me!" The kid yelled, noticing his presence. "P-please help us! Th-the house suddenly spun and- and we were thrown out and- and Zenitsu-san softened my landing b-but no-ow he won't wake up and- you, you are his friend, right? Please do something!"

'Friend? With that trash?!' Kaigaku thought with disgust, turning away from the two. "He can wake up on his own!" He yelled before beginning to walk away.

"Wh-How can you say that?! Aren't you two comrades?!" Shoichi yelled after him.

"I don't call any trash my comrade." The swordsman said without turning back.

"Tra-?! Zenitsu-san was the one that defeated that demon that was giving you trouble, if he is trash then what does that make you?!" The boy yelled in rage.

Kaigaku stopped, turning his head to glare at the boy.

"Hii!" Shoichi gulped at the way the older male stared at him, fearing that he may do something after what he said.

A, very tense, few seconds later Kaigaku turned back around and continued to walk away; this time, Shoichi didn't say anything to him.

…

'I've always had really good hearing.' Zenitsu thought as his consciousness began to come back. 'One time, I knew what people said while I was asleep, and that creeped everyone out… ah, I'm not hearing any more demon sounds. Tanjiro, you defeated that demon, didn't you? I can hear you guys and also…'

"_P-please help us! Th-the house suddenly spun and- and we were thrown out and-_"

'That's Shoichi-kun's voice, he is talking with someone.'

"_He can wake up on his own!_"

'Kaigaku… I'm sorry that you had to save us… I really am a burden, aren't I?'

"_Zenitsu-san was the one that defeated that demon that was giving you trouble, if he is trash then what does that make you?!_"

'You're kind Shoichi-kun but there is no need to lie, I know how weak I am.' The blond thought calmly. 'Ah, Kaigaku's steps are getting further away, I guess he's going ahead.' He realized. 'Tanjiro's steps are getting closer… as well as these weird-sounding, loud footsteps.'

"Zentisu-san! Zentisu-san!"

The swordsman opened his eyes to the sight of a crying Shoichi watching over him.

"Thank goodness! Are you all right?" The kid asked, moving back a bit to give him space. "When the room spun around, we got thrown outside. We fell from the second-story window."

"…did we now?" Zenitsu asked happily while scratching the back of his head. 'So we're finally out of that creepy mansion, what a relief!'

Shoichi nodded before continuing.

"You were protecting me, so I'm totally fine. But…"

"I'm glad to hear that." The Agatsuma said with a smile. "So, tell me, why all the tears?" He moved his hand and noticed a red liquid on it.

3

2

1

"Now I get it! I fell right onto my head, didn't I?" Zenitsu yelled, his earlier calm completely gone.

"Yes."

"Am I gonna… am I gonna die?" He asked while panicking. "My head is starting to spin."

"-in' through!"

The two turned when they heard a voice from the house's entrance.

"What's this? What's this? What's this?"

"Comin' through! Comin' through!" The voice got louder and louder until. "Comin' through!" A man wearing a boar mask and wielding dual blades broke the door down by head-butting it.

"Gahhhhhh! There it is again! The monster boar!" Zenitsu yelled while hugging the younger kid in fear.

Said 'monster boar' laughed as he looked around.

"I'm getting a demonic vibe."

"Eh… it's him! I recognize that voice! He's the fifth survivor!"

"Survivor?" Shoichi asked.

"During the Final Selection, he was the first to rush up the mountain, and then came down from the mountain before anyone else!" The Agatsuma explained. "Mr. Impatient!"

Said 'Mr. Impatient' ignored the two as he continued to look around, eventually setting his sight on Tanjiro's box.

"Found it!" He laughed and dashed towards the box, swords ready to cut it into pieces.

"Cut it out!" Zenitsu quickly moved between them, arms spread open to protect the box.

"Who the hell are you?" Boar mask asked. "Get out of the way!"

"I'm Agatsuma Zenitsu! I'm with the Demon Slayer Corps like you!"

"Hmm, Demon Slayer Corps? Then I shouldn't have to tell you! We gotta get rid of that thing!" The shirtless male yelled, preparing his swords once more. "Now, get the hell out of my way!"

"I'm not moving!" The blond replied. "This is Tanjiro's-"

"Don't argue with me!" He moved closer and glared at the teen, something he felt even from behind the boar mask. "In that case, I'm gonna demolish him and the box together!" He raised one sword. "I said move it!" He brought it down, stopping just before hitting Zenitsu's shoulder.

The blond closed his eyes while trembling but did not move from his position.

"You…!"

"Inside this box… Inside this box is something I'm not letting you touch! Something precious to Tanjiro!" The swordsman declared, even though how afraid he was could be seen clearly in his expression.

"Oh, hey, come on! What are you talking about?" The dual wielder asked, his tone one of confusion. "There's a demon inside that box! Don't you get that?"

"I've known that from the very start!" Zenitsu yelled. 'I knew he was traveling with a demon. Because the sounds demons make aren't anything like human sounds. But… I can pick up a sound so gentle and kind from Tanjiro, it makes me want to cry.' He thought as he remembered the sound coming from his red haired comrade. 'So kind, I don't think I've ever heard anything like it before… I've heard countless sounds coming from many living creatures, I can even tell what someone's thinking if I focus… yet, I've been tricked many times, because I always believe in who I want to believe… that's why I believe! I believe Tanjiro has a reason for traveling with a demon! And that it's a reason I can accept!'

"I… I'm going to ask Tanjiro directly myself! So, you… " Zenitsu lift his head, glaring back at the masked swordsman. "You can just back off!"

_Thud_

"Zentisu-san!" Shoichi called out when the dual wielder kicked the blonde away and set his sights on the box once more.

But Zenitsu tackled him to the ground.

"Let go of me, dammit!" He hit the blonde on the back with the hilt of one of his swords, hard enough to make him cough blood, then grabbed him from his head and threw him off of him. "You're so annoying!" He turned back to the box and- "Wah!"

"You're not laying a finger on that!" Zenitsu declared, having grabbed his foot to make him trip; once again, the masked demon hunter kicked him but he didn't let go. "That's something…" Mustering as much strength as he could, Zenitsu grabbed him from the ankle with both hands and threw him away. "…precious to Tanjiro!" He quickly got up and hugged the box, using his body to cover as much of it as possible. "You're not touching it until he gets back!"

"Damn you!" The dual wielder growled as he got up. "Take this!" He began to relentlessly kick Zenitsu's face and body, splattering blood on the ground. "Move it!"

"I won't!" His nose was bleeding, he could feel his left eye beginning to get swollen but he will not, no matter what, move.

"Take this! Move it!" The other swordsman continued to kick him but it was for naught, he still didn't move. "Draw your sword and fight me! You spineless punk!"

'I won't, until he comes back, I won't move!"

* * *

'What… is going on here?' That was the first thing Tanjiro thought when he got out of the house and saw the scene.

It was obvious when one took a moment to think about it but he just couldn't understand what could have caused things to turn out like this.

"Tanjiro…" Zenitsu called out. "I protected it."

'Zenitsu…'

"Because you said… this was more important… than your life."

The Kamado was moved, more than he could explain, at hearing those words; even without knowing what the box contains or if it was actually the box itself that was important, this person he had met just a few hours ago had received a beating to protect it simply because he said how important it was to him.

"After all that bluster…" His thoughts were interrupted when the masked swordsman began to kick Zenitsu again. "…you won't even draw your sword, you dumbass? If you're a fellow Demon Slayer, then let's see you fight!" He kicked him harder, sending the Agatsuma and the box to the ground. "If you're not gonna fight, get the hell out of my way!" The dual wielder ranted as he kept kicking the blonde. "Enough! If you won't get out of my way, I'll just have to skewer you along with that box!" He moved one of his swords to hold it in a reverse grip and raised it.

Even after that threat, that he is sure was real, Zenitsu didn't loosen his grip; he actually held the box tighter.

"Knock it off!" Both turned their attention towards Tanjiro who put Kiyoshi down and then immediately dashed forward. "Knock it off!" He roared.

Before the masked man could react, the red haired teen closed the distance and punched him in his right side as hard as he could.

'This guy...!' The dual wielder thought as he was sent flying away.

"He broke his bones! I heard his ribs breaking just now!"

"Aren't you a member of the Demon Slayer Corps?" Tanjiro yelled. "Don't you get why Zenitsu refuses to draw his sword? It's because it's taboo for us to draw our swords on each other for no reason!" He said through gritted teeth as the masked man remained on the ground face up. "But here you are, giving him a one-sided beatdown! Is that fun for you?! You're the lowest of the low!" The Kamado snarled with a face that would make a demon back off.

"_cough cough- _Oh, so that's why?" The swordsman on the ground asked, surprisingly calm for someone that just got a few bones broken. "My bad." He raised his head to look at the teen with the fox mask. "In that case, let's fight barehanded."

"No! I don't think you get it at all!" Tanjiro said, confused at how someone could arrive at that conclusion. "First-"

"Ahh!" The masked swordsman got himself off the ground by using his arms and pushing himself up and rushed Tanjiro.

"We're not supposed to fight each other, period!" His words were ignored and the Kamado was forced to step back while dodging the blows. "Fighting barehanded doesn't make it all right! Listen to me!" He raised his right arm with the palm out, trying to get him to listen to reason.

All that got him was the dual wielder using it to force himself closer, then spin around his body before throwing him back.

He landed with his hands on the ground and quickly followed up with a kick that Tanjiro barely managed to avoid.

'That guy, how can he move like that?' Zenitsu thought with an expression as if he's seeing some weird phenomenom. 'Tanjiro just busted his ribs too.'

'Mr. Impatient', as Zenitsu called him, continued his onslaught with another kick that Tanjiro blocked with his arm.

The Kamado tried to launch a counter by kicking him but the other male swayed back, his back almost parallel to the ground, to dodge it and then came back up right in Tanjiro's face.

'Wh-' His thoughts were interrupted when a fist connected with his face.

"Actually, isn't Tanjiro running afoul of the taboo himself?" Zenitsu wondered as Shoichi cleaned his wounds. "He did break his bones."

Shoichi just looked at him in puzzlement, not understanding what he means.

Tanjiro might be a patient person but if this guy isn't going to listen to him at all then he has no choice.

He got up from the ground after being thrown by a weird throw that had the guy with the boar mask be completely off the ground and used his head, literally, to swat him away for a moment.

While the red haired swordsman would like to go on the offensive to restrain his opponent until he calms down, the masked demon hunter's onslaught was relentless, alternating between punches, kicks and even trying to tackle him.

'Th-this guy… His attacks are bizarrely low!' Tanjiro realized after being on the receiving end of them for so long. 'It's like fighting a four legged beast!' He dodged a kick to his head, thrown from below once more and moved to his blind spot. 'Target him low! Even lower than your opponent.' Using his left arm as support, Tanjiro threw a kick as a counter but 'Mr. Impatient' did a perfect split to avoid it and then hit him in the back of his head with a kick, thrown by supporting himself with his arms and bending his body as if he was rolling forward.

'The flexibility of his joints! It's superhuman!' He acknowledged as his face hit the ground, some blood spluttering from his nose.

After that hit, the teen with the boar mask moved back, doing a few spins in mid-air for unnecessary flourish, and stood to his full height.

"Pretty amazing, aren't I? Pretty amazing, aren't I?"

'He said it twice!' Zenitsu thought, using the handkerchief Kiyoshi gave him to stop his bleeding. 'Singing his own praises…'

"And look at what else I can do!" He bended backwards, keeping both feet completely on the ground and touching his ankles with his hands, his head between his legs.

"Cut it out! Don't do stuff like that! Knock it off when you have busted bones! It's gonna get worse!" The Kamado scolded him.

"Worse? Fine by me!" The boar dashed forward once more, ready to continue. "Nothing can top the pleasure of this moment!"

"You need to think about the future!" Tanjiro responded as he once again began to dodge and block the attacks.

"What do I care?"

"You need to…" Tanjiro suddenly grabbed him from both shoulders. "… calm down!" He yelled as he head-butted him.

"Ahhhhhhh! That sound! Are your skulls fractured?" Zenitsu asked in fear, pretty sure that even someone without his hearing was able to hear the sound their heads just made.

The shirtless male stumbled backwards but managed to stand on his feet, albeit with his head looking down now and, due to that, the boar mask fell from his face.

"Hm?"

"Eh…? Huh?! A girl? Huh? Your face?" Zenitsu yelled at seeing the masked demon hunter's face for the first time.

"What the hell? You've got a problem with my face or anything?" He asked, moving away the hand he was using to hold the place Tanjiro head-butted him.

Zenitsu's shock was understandable since, in contrast to his muscular body, his face looked oddly feminine, with large green colored eyes framed by long eyelashes, thin eyebrows and a small mouth, his hair is black fading to blue at the tips and reaches just past his shoulders.

"You're one creepy guy, you know that?" The Agatsuma asked. "You've got such a ripped body, but there's a girl's face sitting on top of it."

"…hah! Why the hell are you staring at my face like that?" He asked towards the blonde.

"I-I'm not!" He yelled before running away towards where the three siblings were standing. "I'm not looking at your face!" Zentisu said while hiding between them, earning three sets of dry stares from similarly colored eyes.

"We don't have a problem with your face!" Tanjiro declared, completely serious. "It's quite petite, fair-skinned, and therefore attractive!"

"You're a corpse! Come at me!"

"Not happening! I'm not gonna attack you anymore!"

"Try head-butting me one more time!"

"Nope, I'm done!"

"I said do it! Come on!"

"You sit yourself down! Are you okay?" The Kamado asked worriedly.

"Hey, Big Forehead Fox! Let me tell you my name. It's Hashibira Inosuke! Don't you forget it!"

"What characters do you use to spell that?" Tanjiro immediately asked, genuinely curious; it would be rude to remember a name incorrectly after all.

"Spell? Spell…" Inosuke trailed off, not expecting that question. "I don't know how to read or write! That name was written on my loincloth-" He suddenly stopped, not just talking but moving as well.

"What's wrong?"

"He froze." Shoichi answered to Zenitsu, also confused.

"…what's the matter?" Tanjiro asked after a few seconds of the black to blue haired teen not moving.

Inosuke's eyes suddenly rolled to the back of his head and he fell on his back, completely knocked out.

"Ah! He collapsed! Is he dead?" The third swordsmen there asked in fear.

"He's not dead. It's probably a concussion." Tanjiro answered as the three siblings and Zenitsu approached him. "Because I head-butted the hell out of him."

"Onii-chan, are you okay?" Teruko asked with a worried look.

"Yeah." He assured her with a smile.

"Amazing! Can I touch your head?"

"Here!" The Kamado lowered his head to let her do so.

'Th-that's scary… not a drop of blood from Tanjiro's head. How hard is it anyway?' Zenitsu wondered as he looked at the unconscious 'boar'.

"Onii-chan's head is really hard!"

"You think so?"

'…what a weird way to end a fight.'

* * *

**Alright, here is another one and we finally get the Kamaboko squad together!**

**Next time… well, you'll have to wait and see.**

**Also, I feel like I did a better job at Tanjiro and Kaigaku vs Kyogai than at Tanjiro vs Inosuke; I'm curious, what do you think?**

**I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to leave a comment! They are my fuel for writing!**

**Until next time.**


	17. Moments of rest

**Interlude: Moments of rest**

**.**

**Guest review answer corner**

**Guest: Thank you! I hope you continue to enjoy it!**

**.**

**Welcome again everyone!**

**So, not much to tell so let's get right into it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

'…how did he arrive at that conclusion? It doesn't make sense!' That was the only conclusion that Zenitsu could arrive at after thinking properly about everything that happened inside and near that house.

He could understand wanting to calm the children, wanting to stop the fight with the boar, Inosuke as he introduced himself, and wanting to bury the bodies of the people unfortunate enough to end up inside the tsuzumi mansion, all of that was understandable.

But the fact that when Inosuke woke up and said that he won't bury the bodies, like Tanjiro, Zenitsu and the three siblings have been doing while he was unconscious and that Tanjiro immediately thought it was because he was in too much pain and told him to rest was too much.

'I thought it was some weird reverse psychology thing but… no, he definitely meant it.'

The boar did help them after the comment from the Kamado, albeit it was because he wanted to prove 'he could bury more bodies than the others', not the best motivation but it helped finish the job faster so he wasn't complaining.

Then, as the six were going down the mountain, after Tanjiro's crow gave Kiyoshi an amulet that is supposed to keep demons away, made of wisteria according to Tanjiro, and went their separate ways, the teen with the boar mask kept trying to goad Tanjiro into a fight… and kept saying his name very, very wrong for some reason.

Seriously, how do you confuse 'Kamado Tanjiro' with 'Kamaboko Gonpachiro'?!

Anyway, the three swordsmen then followed Tanjiro's crow until they arrive at a hotel with a wisteria crest and an old lady with a dark purple kimono and gray hair received them; it seems the family that owns the houses with that crest were saved by the Demon Slayer corps many generations ago so they let any members stay free of charge, according to the crow.

Although Zenitsu kept thinking the old lady is a ghost and Inosuke mentioning that she looks weak, making Tanjiro scold them.

Still, there was nothing to complain about the place, they got food (which Inosuke tried to use to provoke Tanjiro again… and he only said 'have this too if you're that hungry', completely meant it too!), a bath, some clothes to wear and a doctor was called to look at their wounds.

It turns out they all have broken ribs… although Tanjiro is the only one that got those wounds due to fighting a demon.

After getting a room with three futons and turning in to sleep, they began to talk.

Inosuke mentioned that his head hurts more than his ribs and the Kamado apologized, Zenitsu took that as his cue to complain about the beating he received and try to get Inosuke to apologize to him.

'I'll pass' he answered simply, much to the Agatsuma's chagrin.

Then they asked Inosuke why he joined the corps… it wasn't a nice story, a member happened to go to his mountain, he had been living there so the rumors about him probably made the corps think that there was a demon, then he beat that member, stole his sword and learned about demons and the Final Selection.

"So that's why you joined the Demon Slayer Corps?" Tanjiro said with a smile. "And hey, we both grew up in the mountains."

"Don't lump me in with you! I don't have any parents or siblings! Testing my strength against other living creatures is my only pleasure!" Inosuke said with a wide grin, putting his boar mask at the end of his speech.

"Is that right?" The Kamado said sleepily.

"…Tanjiro, no one else is asking, so I'm gonna ask myself." Zenitsu said, moving to a sitting position and looking at him over his shoulder. "Why are you traveling with a demon?"

"Ah…" The Kamado was silent for a second before also sitting. "Zenitsu, you knew about that and still protected the box? You really are a great guy, you know? Thanks!" He wasn't trying to avoid the question, an explanation is the least he can give him after how he protected his sister, albeit unknowingly, from Inosuke but that was the first thing he felt he needed to say, any other member of the corps would have likely cut the box first and ask questions later.

"You… you really shouldn't heap so much praise on me!" The blond said with a delighted expression while hugging his pillow.

"I've got a keen sense of smell so I knew it from the start. That you are a kind and strong person."

"No… I'm not strong." The delighted expression was suddenly changed to a neutral one as he sat again on top of his bed. "Don't give me that… lying is not nice."

"Ah… hm… bu…" The Kamado mumbled, trying to come up with something to say after such a definitive 'you're wrong'.

When his box began to move.

"Wha- ah! Eh?! It's trying to get out!" Zenitsu yelled, moving away from the box as soon as he heard the noise.

"It's alright." Tanjiro assured him quietly.

"What is alright?! What?! What?!"

"Zenitsu, lower your voice, it's really late." The red haired teen continued to try, and fail, to get the Agatsuma to calm down.

Inosuke simply stayed on his bed, wondering how to goad Tanjiro into a fight, completely ignoring the ruckus.

Then the door of the box opened.

"AHHHHHH! IT WASN'T LOCKED?!"

"Shh!"

"P-p-p-protect me! Please protect me! I'll even accept Inosuke's help!" Zenitsu yelled, running towards the masked swordsman, who quickly kicked him away and, although he didn't mean it, right in front of the almost open box.

"Eh…" A small hand crawled out from inside the darkness of the compartment.

"It came out! I have to hide! Hide!" The blond ran towards a closet and tried to enter it, even though there wasn't any space, until he turned around to actually see the demon. "Eh?"

"Nezuko~" Tanjiro called out happily as his sister turned from her 'child' form to her normal one.

"Huh?" While Zenitsu stared, completely frozen in place. 'Wha… this… that's a demon? But…' His mind always associated demons to evil and grotesque creatures, so when he saw what he _knows_ is a demon but looked like a completely normal girl, save for the muzzle, he needed to take a moment to process it. "Ah!"

"Zenitsu, Nezuko is-"

"Tanjiro." The blond interrupted in a strangely serious voice. "You…"

"Eh? Zenitsu?"

"Youuuuuuuuuu…!" The Kamado was almost certain that lighting was starting to come from the Agatsuma and he certainly sounded angry if his tone was anything to go by. "You are pretty lucky, aren't you?!"

"Huh?"

"Traveling with such a cute girl, huh? Having a cutie like her travelling with you day in and day out…!"

"Ah, wait Zenitsu, you have the wrong-."

"GIVE ME BACK THE BLOOD I SPILLED FOR YOU!" The blond shrieked before shoving a finger in his face. "I… I did not protect… did not protect your box so could go have fun with a girl every day! That's the reason I let that weird boar hit me?!"

"Wh- Zenitsu, calm down, what's gotten into you?"

"YOU DON'T JOIN THE DEMON SLAYER CORPS TO HAVE FUN!" He completely ignored Tanjiro as he continued to rant. "People like you… are to be purged!" Suddenly, he grabbed his sword and unsheathed it. "Also, you got in the way of my marriage back then. BE PURGED! Don't underestimate the corps!" Zenitsu yelled as he lunged forward with his katana.

"Wha-?!" Tanjiro side-stepped to avoid the sudden thrust. "Zenitsu, cut it out!"

"People like you!" But the blond wasn't listening at all, he just continued to swing his sword at him.

Realizing that he is not listening, Tanjiro stopped running and when Zenitsu came at him again he counter-charged, grabbed the handle with his hands, making sure to avoid the blade, then let go with his left one and placed his arm under his chin to then lift it, and Zenitsu along with him, breaking his balance and sending him to the ground.

"Cut it out already! Nezuko is my sister!" Tanjiro yelled, still holding Zenitsu's sword.

"Don't think I won't beat you with my bare ha… what did you just say?"

"She's my little sister!" The Kamado repeated. "Her name is Nezuko, she was turned into a demon and I joined the corps to find a cure for her!"

It took a few seconds for the explanation to actually settle in and Zenitsu's mouth made an 'o' the moment it hit him.

"I see… your sister." The blonde turned his eyes from Tanjiro to Nezuko and back to Tanjiro. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine as long as you understand." The red haired teen answered, giving him back his sword. "Now, it's late, and you are injured, go to sleep for now." He said, his usual smile back in place.

"Ah, but-"

"No, no, we need to recover from our wounds, let's go now." He insisted, gently pushing Zenitsu back towards his bed.

"Alright, alright, I'm going to sleep, geez."

"Good night."

"Likewise." With that, Zenitsu laid down on his futon and closed his eyes.

"Sorry about leaving you alone for a while Nezuko, are you alright?" Tanjiro asked his sister.

"Hmm, hmm." She nodded, smiling under her muzzle.

"A lot has happened, you know?" Tanjiro began to tell her about what happened while she was in her box, where they are and who the other two are.

"…so Zenitsu defended you from Inosuke, make sure to thank him later, alright?"

The younger Kamado nodded a few times in acknowledgment.

"Alright… I should go to sleep… but first." Tanjiro moved to a desk inside the room where some paper and pen he had requested earlier were resting.

"Hm?"

"I'm writing a letter to Tamayo-san, there is something I have to ask her." He explained with a sad look as he began to write.

Nezuko stared at him write in silence for a few moments before suddenly hugging him.

"Nezuko?"

She didn't answer, not even with a mumble or hum, she just began to pat his head as if trying to comfort him.

The swordsman smiled and let himself relax. "Thank you, I guess I can't hide anything from you, huh?" He said with a chuckle. "I'm okay now, I'll just finish writing this before going to sleep."

Nezuko smiled again before letting go so he could continue writing.

* * *

A week after Tanjiro and co. arrived at the Wisteria House.

Makomo has always thought that, aside from the home she shares with Sabito and Giyu and her master's hut in Mt. Sagiri, the Butterfly State, home of the Insect Pillar and the corps' unofficial hospital, has to be her favorite house.

Although her reason for visiting is usually not a good one, she always appreciates the chance to spend time there with her friend and the children she and her sister rescued.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not sure it was necessary to come here for a wound like this." Shinobu said calmly as she bandaged her left arm.

The two were in Shinobu's personal room for when she has to take care of injuries.

"I agree but Sabito insisted and he wouldn't take no for an answer." She answered with a giggle, remembering how insistent he was that she should go see Shinobu.

"He can be a real worrywart, can't he?" The Kocho commented. "It's funny, he usually tries to keep a… what would you call it, 'dignified image'?"

"I don't think he actually tries to do that, it just comes natural to him."

"Unless he drinks sake." The smaller woman commented with a smirk.

Makomo blushed at the memory of the one time Sabito drank more than he thought and… well, everyone found out that he is the type to be completely honest, and loud, when drunk.

"In any case, didn't Tomioka-san backed you up? Surely he could see the wound was not that bad and he is always… blunt, shall we say?"

"Giyu couldn't really argue, not when he knows that Sabito's intentions are good… it's the same with me, really." Makomo answered. "I know Giyu is a man of few words but he always tries to think about how others feel, you know? …although he is not the best at conveying that."

"Sounds like there is a story behind that?" Shinobu raised an eyebrow when she saw an embarrassed smile from Makomo.

"…you didn't hear this from me, one time Giyu was coming back late from a mission so Sabito and I decided to… 'make the best of it', then he suddenly came in while we were making out in a… compromising position."

"Ara~ Ara~" The Kochou put a hand over her mouth to stop her giggles to no avail. "Hehehehe, what happened then?"

"Well, it was awkward, as you can imagine, but he simply apologized and asked that we leave a sign or something so he knows he should stay away for a while before leaving."

"That sounds like Tomioka-san, hehehe." Shinobu continued to try and control her giggles.

"Still, his intention was good, it's just the way he phrased it that was… less than ideal."

"Well, as fun as talking to you is, I've finished with the bandage and I have other things to do." Shinobu informed her, using a pair of scissors to cut the bandage. "Feel free to stay for a while, though, I'm sure the kids would be happy to see you and show you how much they've improved at making flower crowns."

"I think I'll take you up on that." The aqua eyed woman smiled. "Thank you Shinobu, see you later."

"Later~"

With that, Makomo left the room and began to walk around the mansion.

She already knew where she was going, straight towards the garden.

"Ah, Makomo-san!" Three voices said in unison when the saw her.

They were three little girls of around the same age with round black eyes, wearing the same white nurse dress but tied with a pink, green or blue bow around their waists; other than that, the only real difference between them was their hair style, the one with the pink bow has shoulder length black hair with two butterfly clips of the same color on each side of her head, the one with the green one is longer and has it styled in two braided twin tails with green butterfly clips and the one with the blue one has it styled in low twin tails fastened with blue butterfly clips.

"Hello Kiyo-chan, Naho-chan, Sumi-chan!" Makomo greeted them with a smile. "I came to visit and Shinobu told me you two have been practicing how to make flower crowns."

"Um… are you alright?" Naho asked. If someone came to the Butterfly State it was usually for an injury, so her question was understandable.

"Yep, I'm fine, I got a wound on my arm but Sabito made a bigger deal about it than he should." She explained happily. "But enough about me, how have you three been doing?"

"Ah, we made this!" Kiyo said happily as she presented a flower crown to her.

"We all found different flowers and then took turns to make it… it wasn't the best idea." Sumi admitted sheepishly.

"Hmm, I can see how that could have been a problem, still it's amazing that it came out as good as it did if you all took turns, maybe I'll ask Sabito and Giyu to do the same and see how it ends up."

"We would love to see it if you do!" The three said in unison.

'If I didn't know any better, I would think they're triplets.' The swordswoman thought with a giggle before offering to teach them how to make better flower crowns.

Their smiles immediately became brighter.

.

.

"Thank you, Makomo-san!"

"You're welcome, you little caterpillars." She said as she waved at them.

The 'caterpillars' needed to go attend to their duties so they had to stop the lesson for now, they all got a flower crown made by Makomo before leaving, though.

'Now then, I guess I should be going back.' The demon hunter thought, getting up from the ground and dusting herself down. 'Hm, that is…' Her eyes moved to another part of the garden where a girl with a demon slayer uniform, black hair that turned pink at the ends tied in a side ponytail with a butterfly ornament was standing, one of her fingers extended and a butterfly standing over it as several others surrounded her. 'That's Shinobu's Tsuguko, I don't think I ever talked to her… let's go change that.'

Her previous plan forgotten, Makomo slowly began to walk towards her, keeping some distance to make sure she doesn't scare the butterflies away.

"Hello." She greeted. "I'm Makomo, you're Shinobu's little sister and Tsuguko, Tsuyuri Kanao, right?"

The girl, Kanao, moved her eyes towards her… and nothing else.

Not a word of acknowledgment, a nod, or anything, if it wasn't because she turned her way Makomo would have thought she didn't even realize she was talking to her or had downright ignored her.

"Is something wrong?" The aqua eyed woman asked, puzzled by her lack of response. 'They did tell me a bit about her situation but… I didn't think it would be this bad.' A look of sadness found her way into her eyes but she didn't say anything about it. "Well, I don't want to bother you so I'll be going now, let's talk some other time, ok?"

Again, there was no form of response from the younger female so Makomo simply waved and left.

.

'I guess she understands better now.' Shinobu, who had happened to be looking for Kanao to train, thought as she watched the scene. 'Nee-san, I don't doubt she has good intentions but… I really wish she didn't thought about joining the Demon Slayer Corps.' The master of the house sighed as she remembered when Kanao came back from the Final Selection.

* * *

_Flashback_

_It was a bright and beautiful day, almost no clouds in the sky, the sun was shining brightly, it was truly a beautiful day._

_One that Kocho Shinobu could not enjoy in the least._

_'It's the last day.' The Insect Pillar thought, taking a deep breath to try and calm down while she stood outside the Butterfly State. 'She should be coming back any moment now… if she survived.' A part of her mind, one that she didn't want to listen to, added the last part, making the purple eyed woman shake her head. 'I just have to believe, she will be alright.'_

_'But she never had any sort of formal training.' Again that part of her mind showed its head. 'She would have to be really lucky to survive seven days against demons without knowing how to fight.' As much as it pained her to admit it, that was true._

_What exactly possessed Kanao to just grab one of their spare swords and leave a note saying she is going to the Final Selection is something she fully intends to find out._

_'If you get the chance.'_

_'Stop!'_

_Taking another deep breath, Shinobu forced herself to stop thinking about the subject and simply wait._

_But the waiting was unbearable; her mind kept coming back to thoughts of her younger adopted sister dying on that mountain._

_She actually tried to go to Oyakata-sama and requested permission to enter the testing grounds and bring her back but he had refused._

_It's not like Shinobu expected a different outcome, especially when the leader of the corps pointed out to her that 'if you didn't told her to and no one forced her to, then she went there of her own free will', but she had to try, as futile as it might be, she couldn't live with herself if she didn't._

_That week had been hell to her, she literally just continued to think of 'what-ifs' even though she has her own duties she should be focusing on._

_The Kocho did her best to not let that show to the other members of the house, she knows they're worried too and seeing her worried would only make it worse, so she did her best to try and reassure them that Kanao will be back safe and sound... even if a part of her didn't believe that._

_'Kanao… please just come back already.'_

_Shinobu stood there, waiting for her to come back, constantly wondering if she is just waiting in vain, part of her even wanted to go write an urgent letter to Oyakata-sama to know if he knows if Kanao passed… but she is also afraid of what the answer might be._

_Eventually, after two long and agonizing hours, she could see a figure in a pink kimono with her hair tied in a side ponytail with a butterfly ornament walking towards her._

_Shinobu simply stared as her sister walked towards her, a katana on her hip and a crow resting on her shoulder._

_"…you have a lot to explain." She said with a glare that made the younger girl avoid her gaze. "But first…" Shinobu grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so happy you're alright."_

_"…yes." Kanao answered in a quiet voice._

_"Let's go inside and tell the others, then I'm going to give you the scolding of a life-time." She said with a smile… and a dark aura around her._

_The girl in the pink kimono just nodded and followed her inside._

_._

_._

_After telling everyone that Kanao had come back and she was safe, Shinobu brought her to her room and had her sit in seiza in front of her._

_"Now, tell me what exactly possessed you to go to the Final Selection without telling anyone." The Kocho demanded._

_"…I… don't think I'm good enough to help out with chores or taking care of patients." She answered. "But I still want to repay you for everything you've done for me and… I couldn't think of another way."_

_"Kanao…" Shinobu's gaze softened slightly but she hardened it once more. "Still, to go to the Final Selection without any training… it's a miracle that you don't have any wounds." The Kocho had been checking her constantly since she saw her coming back, to see if she stumbled or clutched her side or any other indication of pain. "Well, you passed, so I guess there is no stopping it now… I'll see if you can enter the Kakushi."_

_"Actually… I can fight demons as a demon slayer."_

_"Kanao." The older of the two called out, a look of disbelief across her features. "I am very happy you survived the Final Selection but don't think that means you can fights demons."_

_"I did fight demons."_

_"…pardon?"_

_"I fought demons in that mountain with Kanae-nee-san's Breath Style."_

_For the first time since Shinobu met her, Kanao left her speechless._

_"You… what…?" She asked after a few seconds. "But… Nee-san never trained you."_

_"No, I learned by watching her." The Tsuyuri revealed easily, as if they were having the most benign conversation imaginable._

_"Show me." Shinobu ordered._

_The girl with the pink kimono nodded, stood up, unsheathed her sword, and took a stance._

_Kanao then took a deep breath, one that Shinobu could tell was a 'Total Concentration' breath and unleashed a technique._

_Her sword moved gracefully, unleashing five slashes that flowed and weaved in on themselves._

_"That was…" For the second time, Kanao left her older sister speechless._

_"The Fifth form of the Breath of Flower: Peony of futility." The younger one finished._

_"How?" The Kocho recovered a lot quicker this time. "You said you learned by watching her?"_

_"Yes, I can't perform the techniques at the same level she could but I believe I have the basis down." Kanao answered, still with the same inconsequential tone._

_"That… even if you could learn by watching I can't believe you are able to perform them without training-" It hit her before she could actually finish her sentence. "You've been training on your own, haven't you?"_

_"Yes, I saw you and Kanae-nee-san train so I did the same things you did." She explained. "I can't do everything you do, though."_

_"To think I never realized…" Shinobu thought out loud. "…how many demons did you face in that mountain?"_

_"Hm? I didn't count them, should I have done that?"_

_"No, no, that's alright." The fact that the question came with the same distant and matter-of-fact tone as before made Shinobu uncomfortable but she decided to keep that thought to herself. "Let me rephrase, of the demons you encountered, did any of them give you trouble?"_

_"Not really, they all got taken down with one technique; sometimes I didn't even use a Flower Breathing form and managed to cut them just by swinging my sword through their necks."_

_'She is not lying… well, she is not capable of it after all.' That thought was bitter-sweet for the Kocho; on one hand, she doesn't have to worry about Kanao lying about her skill, on the other, the reason why she can't lie is something that she still wishes she could help with._

_"Very well, starting tomorrow I will begin to train you so you learn more about Total Concentration Breathing." The Insect Pillar declared. "I'll be strict, just so you know."_

_"I understand… should I call you 'master' from now on?"_

_"You can if you want to."_

_At the answer she received, Kanao looked into a pocket on her kimono and retrieved a coin from it, she then threw it upwards and caught it when it came down._

_It landed tails._

_"Very well, Master."_

_"…go rest for now, we have a long day ahead tomorrow." Shinobu said, hiding how she felt about her throwing that coin behind a smile._

_Kanao bowed her head and got up to leave._

_"Kanao." The aforementioned stopped and turned around. "When you went to the Final Selection, did you flip your coin to decide that?"_

_"..."_

_The fact that she was taking a long time to answer brought a questioning look to the Pillar but she simply waited in silence._

_"…no." She finally said._

_"I see… that's all."_

_Bowing once more, Kanao truly left this time._

_The Insect Pillar stood up and walked towards another room, one that had a shrine for the dead with some incense burning._

_'Nee-san, I am not happy about the circumstances but…' Her mouth curved into a small, real, smile. 'It seems Kanao is getting a bit better.'_

_End of Flashback_

* * *

'I thought that at the time but…' Her gaze went towards her Tsuguko. 'She hasn't made any other decision on her own since.' Letting out another sigh, Shinobu called out to Kanao for them to begin training. 'You said her heart will open when it gets the chance… I really hope you were right, Nee-san.'

* * *

Far away from the Butterfly State.

"Thank you for your help, doctor." A man in his early thirties said as he walked out the door.

"You're welcome, please contact me if something happens." Tamayo answered with a nod.

The man waved once more before leaving the clinic.

'He was the last one.' The demon woman thought with a relieved sigh.

Standing up from her chair, she walked through the house she and Yushiro had prepared and opened a hidden door on the floor, leading to a basement.

She calmly went downstairs and opened another door to a room filled with different research materials.

"Welcome back, Tamayo-sama." Yushiro greeted her, looking up from his microscope.

"I'm back." She answered simply and moved towards a desk with several papers in it. "How were the tests?"

"…inconclusive." 'A failure' but the younger demon didn't want to use those words. "I'm trying a different compound now but… we're running out of blood."

"Yes, I thought the blood from just one demon wouldn't be enough to run enough tests." The brown haired woman commented. "Try to run as many as possible then we'll have to wait until Tanjiro-san can send us more blood."

"Understood." He answered with a nod.

While Yushiro did that, Tamayo opened a drawer from her desk and retrieved an already opened letter from it.

'What should I do…?' She wondered while reading the letter for the nth time. 'What Tanjiro-san proposes is ridiculous and yet… I can't help but consider it.'

"Tamayo-sama." Yushiro called out.

"Hm, did you finish with the test?"

"No, it's about the letter." He answered, his eyes still focused on his task. "I don't think you should agree, the risk is too high."

"…I know." She answered with a sad look.

"…that being said…" The green haired demon continued, momentarily taking his eyes off the test to look at Tamayo. "You decided to trust Tanjiro, if you want to trust that he can actually find something like that, I will abide by your decision."

The woman was momentarily stunned by his words but it brought a warm smile to her face.

"You're right, I did decide to trust Tanjiro-san." Tamayo answered. "Thank you, Yushiro."

"I didn't do anything that you have to thank me for." He muttered with a blush as he moved his gaze back to the test.

'There are risks involved but… there is also a lot to gain if he can find one.' Tamayo grabbed a pen and paper and began to write her reply. 'And… I genuinely hope he can.' The demon woman never thought the day when a demon hunter would look at a demon and think of helping them before killing them would come but it had.

So maybe, just maybe, it would be alright to have a bit more faith.

* * *

**Ok, a bit shorter than usual, but this was mostly a transitory chapter and a way to set up a few things for the future.**

**Also, I never knew I was that good at the pronoun game, haha. Think you can guess what the letter Tanjiro sent Tamayo was about?**

**You know, this is the most fun I've had writing a chapter for this story in a while, mostly because a big part of it are things that I thought of instead of things from the anime/manga (can't wait to reach the part where I no longer need to set things up and can just write to my heart's content)**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and please leave a comment if you did (or if you want to leave some constructive criticism, I am always happy to read that)**

**Until next time.**


	18. Offering a chance

**Offering a chance**

**Hello again!**

**Just a quick note, I genuinely had so much fun writing this chapter!**

**Alright, I'll leave you with it now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu.**

* * *

"Haaa, I'm suddenly getting nervous; I've never seen so many slayers together." Murata murmured.

He was among a group of twenty five other demon slayers, all of them marching in the same direction.

"How about you, Shinazugawa-kun?"

"…a bit." Genya admitted. "Then again, having so many people to fight with us is a good thing."

"True." The senior swordsman conceded.

"Ah! Hey, Shinazugawa, Murata!" The two turned in the direction where they heard their names and saw a familiar woman with black hair tied in a ponytail.

"Ozaki-san." Murata greeted. "It's been a while, how are your injuries?"

"All better." She answered, moving her previously injured arm around for emphasis. "How have you two been? Any injuries?"

"Not many, my uniform keeps getting torn, though." Genya answered, earning a surprised look from the older woman.

"Since when do you talk?" She asked with a teasing grin.

"Ah, th-that…"

"He is mellowed out quite a bit since you last met him." Murata commented after his partner trailed off.

"Shut up!" The teen yelled to hide his embarrassment, although that only earned him the attention of the other members around so he ended sighing to calm down. "Where is Tanjiro? Is he with you?"

"Ah, nah, he sent me a letter saying he got injured during a mission, he doesn't know when he will be ready to fight again." She answered.

"That's a shame, let's hope he recovers soon." Murata replied and Genya nodded in agreement.

"By the way, I'm surprised there are so many slayers together." The Mizunoto mentioned as he looked around. "It looks like a lot of them know each other too." He added when he saw that several groups talking to each other while walking.

"The squad system has been in place for a while; I'm not surprised they became friends." Ozaki mentioned.

"True… it kind of reassures me." Murata added. "Although… it's kind of scary to think all of these members are going in the same direction."

"Yeah, what demon could need these many people?" Genya wondered.

"That-"

"Hey, come on, we just want to-"

"Shut up!" The three turned towards the commotion, as did most of the corps members there, and saw a swordsman with black hair, a yin and yang collar and his sword strapped to his back yanking his arm away from another member's grip. "You can play buddies all you want but leave me out of it, I have seniority here, I only met with you because those were the orders but don't think I will babysit you."

"Wha-?! We just wanted to know your Breath Style to discuss formations!" Another slayer of that group yelled back.

"Like I care!" The one with his sword in his back yelled before walking ahead, shoving away with his shoulder any other corps member that stayed in his way.

"What's his deal?" Genya asked with a frown.

"I dunno… let's just hope his attitude doesn't come back to bite him." Murata replied with a similar expression.

"Yeah…" Ozaki trailed off. "In any case, I talked to some of the others before spotting you two, there are apparently rumors of several demons in the mountain we're going to, not just one."

"That's… unusual." Genya said carefully.

"Yeah, I was surprised when I heard that too." The only female of the three shrugged. "Not that it really matters, we still have a job to do."

"That's right." Murata nodded his agreement. "And hey, even if there is more than one demon, I don't think we'll have to worry with all these people around."

"There is a saying about there being strength in numbers." Ozaki supported.

"…let's hope so."

"Something wrong, Shinazugawa-kun?"

"No, no… I just have a bad feeling." He admitted. "It's probably just nerves, don't worry about it."

"Relax, as long as we watch each other's backs, everything will be alright!" Murata assured him as he palmed his back.

The Kanoe didn't know how wrong he was or that each step got him closer to a nightmare.

* * *

"Then, we're going." Tanjiro said to the owner of the Wisteria House. "Thank you for everything." Zenitsu and him bowed while Inosuke just stood there, looking.

It had taken almost a month but their wounds were finally healed and a crow had come with their new orders almost immediately after the doctor had cleared them.

It had been an interesting time.

Zenitsu had developed a huge crush on Nezuko and continued to try to get along with Tanjiro, probably to get his blessing, while Tanjiro refused.

It's not that he doesn't want his sister to find someone but, given her current condition, she can't be in a relationship of that sort. If, after she becomes human again and if she wishes to be with Zenitsu, he would support them.

He told Zenitsu as much and… well, he thought about having the doctor check his eyes because he is pretty sure he saw the blond swordsman 'melting' from happiness.

Inosuke, on the other hand, just continued to lunge at Tanjiro to try and start a fight, it never went further than them beginning to run around the place… although that wasn't exactly advisable but Inosuke wouldn't stop until he got bored and/or hungry so the Kamado didn't really have a choice if he wanted to avoid being hit.

"Now then, for good luck." Hisa, the old lady that took care of them, said after bowing and took a rock and a piece of wood with a metal part attached to it.

"Thank you very much!" Tanjiro said as he and Zenitsu turned around and Hisa approached them.

She began to hit the rock with the piece of metal in the wood, making sparks and-

"What do you think you're doing, old hag?!" Inosuke yelled, lunging towards her.

Tanjiro quickly grabbed him and Zenitsu got between the boar and the elderly woman.

"What are you, a moron?" The blond asked perplexed as Inosuke continued to struggle to get rid of Tanjiro's hold. "She's striking sparks for good luck! It's a purification ceremony! Because we're gonna go on a dangerous mission!"

Hearing the explanation, Inosuke stopped his struggle and Tanjiro let go of him after it looked like he calmed down.

"Sorry about that." The Kamado apologized for his friend.

"Don't worry about it." She assured him. "Always live your lives with great pride. I wish you luck in battle."

With that, the three demon slayers began to run in the direction the crow had given them while Hisa bowed until they were out of sight.

.

.

.

"Great pride? Luck in battle?" Inosuke suddenly said as they ran. "What does that mean?" He demanded.

Zenitsu gave him a 'this guy's clueless' look.

"Well, yeah, now that you mention it, it's kind of difficult." While Tanjiro thought of the best way to answer him. "With great pride… I guess it means that you know your place and that you behave properly so that you're never ashamed of yourself."

The masked teen simply stared at him.

"And the old lady is also praying for our safety." The Kamado added.

"…so, what is this 'place'? What do you mean, 'never ashamed'?"

"Well, it's-"

"What exactly does it mean to 'behave properly'?" Inosuke continued, interrupting the red haired teen. "Why in the hell would that old hag pray for our safety anyway? She has nothing to do with us, then why? She has no clue what her own place is, does she?"

At hearing those words and the tone they were said with, Tanjiro.

"Hmph." Turned around angrily and hastened his pace.

'He sped up!' Zenitsu thought.

"I won't get beat!" And Inosuke also began to run faster after him.

* * *

It wasn't supposed to go this way.

"Gah!"

"W-wait, what are you-?!"

"Damn it, move! Don't stay near each oth-gh."

'What is this?! What is this?!' Murata thought in panic.

The group of twenty demon slayers had divided into two units of ten each to cover more ground in the mountain they were going, Mt. Natagumo, so they could search the forest that covered it with more ease.

Yet, not long after they got in, something strange happened.

As someone who has been in this line of work for years, Murata is aware that, when it comes to demons, you should always keep your guard up since you never know where they could attack from, doubly so if they have a Blood Demon Art at their disposal.

He was prepared to respond to a sudden attack by a demon, that wouldn't have been an issue, but he was not prepared for what was happening in front of his eyes.

At least half the members of his unit were trying to attack the others, their movements forceful and unnatural as if they were possessed.

He had barely managed to take distance from all of them, like his now fallen comrade had advised before someone stabbed through his heart with a Nichirin blade.

Yet, even those that he _knows_ are dead due to their injuries, rose up again to fight.

'What do I do? What can I do? This must be a Blood Demon Art, it is obvious but where is the demon, how can I find it? And how is it controlling them? I-'

"Murata!" His train of thought got interrupted when someone yelled his name and grabbed his arm. "Come on!" Then practically dragged him along and away from the rest of the unit, most of them dead from what he could see, yet still moving around, while the rest was trying to escape in different directions like he and the person dragging him were.

"Get a hold of yourself, dammit!" Genya yelled as he continued to run with his senior in tow.

"R-right! Sorry!" Murata apologized as he began to move on his own. "What happened there?! I mean, what kind of demon art could cause that?!"

"I don't know but we can't stay near them and then look for the demon responsible." The Mizunoto answered, looking behind over his shoulder and seeing the bodies of his comrades giving chase. "Shit, we need to lose them somehow."

"Y-yeah." Murata shook his head to regain his bearings. "Let's move to the foliage, we should be able to lose them there."

The Shinazugawa nodded and the two quickly turned towards it.

'I just hope Ozaki-san's group isn't going through the same.' The Kanoe thought worriedly.

* * *

'Damn it! We were too naïve!' Ozaki berated herself as she parried one of her comrades' blades.

It wasn't entirely her fault, facing demons and risking their lives is something normal for Demon Slayers and it's not like she went into the mountain with anything but a 'prepare for the worse' mentality.

She just never thought that the 'worse' would be to have her allies suddenly turn their swords at each other.

It was obviously a Demon Blood Art that was causing all this, three members of her unit already lay dead in the ground, with four others crying out to run away from them as their bodies moved against their will to attack them.

'Whatever this demon is, if it can do something like this…' Gritting her teeth, Ozaki leaped backwards and whistled for her crow. "Inform headquarters! This mountain is more dangerous than we originally thought, we require reinforcements!"

Her crow cawed twice before flying away.

"Alright, we just need to hold out until the help comes, keep your distance and do your best to avoid injuring them." Ozaki ordered to the other two members that were still alive and not under the influence of whatever technique the demons were using.

"Right!" One of them answered, preparing his sword.

"…screw that!" While the other one suddenly began to run.

"Wha-where do you think you're going?!" Ozaki yelled after the swordsman with the yin yang necklace.

"I just need to find the demon doing this and cut off its head, you can stay here and wait if that's what you want!" He yelled back as he continued to run.

Half of the controlled bodies quickly gave chase as the others moved to attack the two slayers still alive.

"Shit, Ozaki-san, we'll have to-" His words were cut short when something suddenly stabbed him from the back, he looked down and saw a katana protruding from his chest.

"No, I'm sorry, my body, it just…" Ozaki apologized repeatedly as the demon hunter realized what happened, the life quickly leaving his eyes as his body went limp and his sword fell to the ground.

Against her will, one of Ozaki's arms held the body while the other retrieved the sword.

"W-wait, don't… stop!" She could only look in horror as her arm swung and her weapon cut off her fallen comrade's head.

* * *

"Hold up!" Zenitsu suddenly yelled; him, Tanjiro and Inosuke had arrived close the place the crow told them to go when the blond suddenly told them to stop. "Would you mind waiting a second?"

"Zenitsu? What's wrong?"

"I'm scared, all right?" He answered tearfully while sitting on the ground with his knees close to his chest. "Now that we're nearing our destination, I'm so scared!"

"Why the hell is he sitting?" Inosuke asked looking down on him, in more ways than one. "How creepy is that?"

"I don't want to hear that from you, Pig face!" Zenitsu replied before pointing forward. "Don't tell me you're not getting any vibes from that mountain!"

The other two turned to said mountain.

'It does look… ominous.' Tanjiro admitted in his mind. "Still, what good will it do to just sit here?"

"I told you, he's creepy?"

"I am not in any way creepy! I'm normal! I'm the normal one! You guys are the abnormal ones!"

Tanjiro was about to answer when a scent entered his nostrils and he turned towards the mountain.

"…hey." The Agatsuma called out when his friend suddenly went silent. "What's wrong?"

"What is this smell?" The Kamado wondered out loud before running towards the mountain.

"Tanjiro!" Zenitsu called out, while Inosuke quickly gave chase. "Come on! Don't leave me here by myself!" He got up and ran after them, still calling out for them to not leave him.

The three quickly reached the foot of the mountain and saw a person holding a sword on the ground, face down.

"H-help me." He begged in tears.

"He's got our uniform on! Something must've happened!" The Kamado thought out loud as he ran towards him. "Are you all right? What happened?" Tanjiro moved to help him up when his body was suddenly lifted up by an invisible force and sent flying back towards the mountain.

"Th-they were attached to me, too! Help me!" His yell for help was drawn out as the demon hunter continued to unwillingly move towards the mountain.

The three could only stare in shock at the sudden development.

'That… it must have been a Blood Demon Art and-' The red haired teen's train of thought was cut when a scent entered his nostrils, one that made him shiver. 'What… was that? That…twisted scent…' Clenching his fist to stop shaking, he took a deep breath to calm down and steeled himself. "I'm going." He declared.

"Hmph." Inosuke suddenly walked forward, shoving Tanjiro away. "I'll go on ahead, you can follow me, shivering." The masked swordsman said. "This is making me hungry."

"Inosuke…" Tanjiro just stared at him, surprised that he seemed unaffected by what they just witnessed.

"This is challenging enough for you, right?" Zenitsu asked, once again sitting on the ground and shivering in fear.

"Let's go!" Inosuke yelled before running forward, Tanjiro quickly following him while the blond could only stare at them.

* * *

'This place feels wrong.' That was the first thing Inosuke thought when he entered the mountain. 'It's nothing like my mountain… something is definitely weird.' He continued to march regardless. 'Well, I just have to beat down whatever is giving me this weird vibe!' He suddenly stopped when he noticed something in his hands. "Huh? What the hell is this?"

Tanjiro looked at it and the around, it was easy to tell.

"A spider web?"

"Jeez, this place is full of spider webs! What a pain!" The Hashibira exclaimed as he began to shake his hands to get rid of the webs.

"You're right." His companion agreed absentmindedly. "Inosuke?"

"What do you want?" He half-yelled, ready for a fight with his arms crossed in front of him.

"Thanks."

"…huh?" He immediately dropped his stance and just stared at the red haired teen in confusion.

"You said you'd come with me, and I felt encouraged." Tanjiro explained with a smile while his friend continued to stare. "That twisted, ominous scent I was picking up from the mountain… it made me freeze a little." The Kamado admitted. "Thanks!"

Inosuke didn't move, he simply continued to stare as images of Hisa bringing him food or offering some clean clothes came back to him for a reason he couldn't understand. 'The hell is going on…?'

"Inosuke…" The moment was interrupted when Tanjiro called his name, staring at two figures moving while crouch wearing their uniform. "Let's go." He whispered before moving towards them, Inosuke quickly following behind.

'Hm, those are…' The closer they got, the more he recognized the figures.

Making as little noise as possible, in case they were hiding for a reason, Tanjiro approached the two from behind and was about to put a hand to one of their shoulders when they turned around, hands around the hilt of their blades.

"Genya, Murata-san." The Kamado greeted. "I thought I recognized you, we came here to help."

"Tanjiro?"

"Wha… you won't be of any help." Genya and Murata said in turn. "Mizunotos can't do anything here, we need the Pillars or it's pointless!"

_BAM_

Inosuke suddenly punched Murata in the face.

"Inosuke!" The Kamado yelled, placing an arm between the two.

"What's your deal, boar?!" Genya added angrily.

"Shut up! As far as pointlessness goes, your existence itself has not point at all!" The dual wielder yelled, moving forward even as Tanjiro tried to stop him and grabbing Murata by the hair. "Now, tell us what's going, you spineless fool!"

_BAM_

This time it was Inosuke who was hit, as Genya punched him right in the face, making him stagger backwards.

"Is that any way to ask a question, asshole?!"

"Huh?! You want to fight, scar-face?!" The Hashibira moved his hands to his weapons.

"Stop!" Tanjiro got in front of him. "Fighting among each other won't solve anything, we have bigger things to worry about!"

Inosuke growled but let go of his weapons before crossing his arms and look away, as if dismissing the two swordsmen he doesn't know.

"…now." Tanjiro let out a sigh of relief. "Can you tell us what happened?"

Both Genya and Murata exchanged an uneasy glance before explaining what happened.

.

.

"…the ones that managed to survive ran in different directions and we managed to lose the ones that were being controlled on some of the foliage around." Murata finished explaining.

"We've been moving around to try and find a way to escape or find the demon controlling them but there is no luck, not to mention there is no telling when the demon responsible could find us." Genya added.

"I see, for now, I think we should- what's that sound?" Tanjiro stopped mid-sentence when he heard something among the trees, something like a string being tensed.

"There it is again." Murata said with a scowl. "It's this sound again."

"It's the same as when everyone suddenly began attacking each other." The Shinazugawa explained.

"Then, where is it coming from?" Tanjiro wondered as he began to look around for the source.

"…hm, shit!" Genya cursed, drawing his sword as several people wearing demon slayer uniforms and wielding blades began to appear from the trees.

The four prepared for combat as the possessed bodies of their comrades began their attack.

One of them lunged in an unnatural manner, making the four leap away and take some distance from each other, the rest of the controlled bodies quickly doing the same, aiming at one of them.

"These guys are idiots! They don't know it's taboo for us to fight each other!" Inosuke exclaimed; strangely proud, considering he did the same thing not too long ago.

"No, that's not it! They're not moving normally! They're being manipulated by something!" Tanjiro answered.

"Didn't we just finish saying that?" Genya asked as he dodged another slash. "Were you not listening, boar head?"

"Shut up! I just have to cut them to ribbons!" He answered, undoing the wrap in one of his swords.

"Are you for real?! Some of them are still alive!" The Shinazugawa yelled.

"Genya's right! You can't do that!" Tanjiro quickly supported.

"Stop denying me at every turn!" The Hashibira complained, lunging towards Tanjiro and hitting him in the stomach with his head.

While they were discussing, Murata was busy trying to block one of his former comrades' blade with his own.

"Murata, behind you!" Genya yelled when he saw another one moving to attack him from the back.

Tanjiro and Inosuke quickly moved and threw the two to the ground.

'Hm! A strange sweet scent from his back!' Tanjiro thought, unsheathing his sword and swinging it near the back of the slayer he had just sent to the ground.

'That's it.' He barely saw it when they were cut, but he had found out the secret. "It's threads! They're being manipulated by threads! Slash the threads!"

Inosuke quickly did that, slashing near the backs of three different corps members before saying that he had already noticed.

Tanjiro didn't listen to him, though, he was focused on finding the demon responsible for this in order to stop it but, every time he tried to smell it out, that same twisted smell he felt at the foot of the mountain invaded his nostrils, masking any other scent.

'What's that?' He thought as he used his left hand to block his nose. 'Hm?' And he noticed two tiny and white spiders moving along it. "Wha-?!" His arm was suddenly yanked but he managed to cut the strings before anything else happened. 'I see, so that's what it is.'

"There are spiders attaching the strings, it will never end if we just cut them, they'll just get re-attached!" The red haired swordsman quickly informed them.

"Then we have to find the demon responsible!" Genya said, noticing a few spiders at his feet and quickly moving away from them.

"Exactly!"

"Well, where is it? Can't you smell it out?" Murata asked as he parried another slash.

"I can't, there is this really strong scent that masks all the others, I can't tell where it is!" He answered, leaping back to avoid a slash, then parrying another and cutting the strings off of his assailant. It may not completely stop them but it does buy some time until the strings are re-attached. "Inosuke, can you find the demon?"

"Huh, and what if I can?" The masked swordsman said back, even as he continued to stab the spiders that disappeared in a poof of smoke with each stab.

"Then do it! Genya, Murata-san and I will cover you in the meantime!"

"Hm, who is that?" Genya's voice grabbed everyone's attention and they moved their sight upwards.

A demon with the appearance of a child was there, one would think he was standing on mid-air until they looked closely and noticed the strings at his feet.

He has milky white skin with several red dots in his face, white hair that reaches his neck and reached around towards his face, with his left eye covered by it and his visible eye was red with three dots on the pupil and is wearing a white kimono with spider web patterns.

"Don't disturb my family's peaceful life." The demon said calmly, even as he looked down on them.

"Family?" Genya voiced everyone's thoughts, no demon had ever referred to other demons as their family, as far as they know.

"Mother will kill you all right away."

"Mother?" This time it was Tanjiro who raised the question.

"Raaaaaa!" But Inosuke didn't care about any of that, using one of the controlled swordsmen as a spring board, he jumped towards the demon and slashed, barely missing the strings he was standing on top of.

The demon didn't react in the slightest, he didn't even deign to look in his direction, and simply walked away.

"Damn you! Where the hell do you think you're going? Fight me! Fight-guah." He was so focused on the demon that he forgot to break his fall.

"Inosuke!" Tanjiro called out worriedly but he immediately got back up.

"Why did he show up anyway?"

"That kid probably isn't the demon pulling the puppet strings! So, first, let's-"

"Okay, okay, okay! I hear you, all right? You want me to find where the demon's at, right? Shut up already, you damn fox!" The Hashibira exclaimed, stabbing both swords in the ground, taking a knee and extending his palms outwards. "Beast Breathing Seventh Form, Spatial Awareness!" In that moment, Inosuke was able to take a grasp of everything that moved in the vicinity of a certain radius. 'Come on, come on…' He continued to feel his way around the forest until finding his objective. "Found it! There you are!"

"You found it?" The Kamado asked as he kept at bay one of the controlled swordsmen.

"Yeah! That way!" Inosuke pointed with one of his swords. "I'm picking up a powerful vibe from there!"

"Really? You're incredible, Inosuke!" Tanjiro said as he pushed back his assailant.

Inosuke once more got that strange fuzzy feeling but got back to reality when a slash came his way, forcing him to jump back to dodge.

"We gotta take care of these guys or we'll never get anywhere!" The dual wielder complained. "I'm just gonna demolish them all at once!"

"You can't! Stop it!" Tanjiro yelled.

"You really have a one-track mind, don't you?" Genya muttered.

"There has to be a way-" A slayer moved forward trying to attack him but Murata intercepted the strike.

"I'll deal with these guys, you three go and find the demon!"

"What kind of talk is that, Mr. Pissed-My-Pants?" Inosuke asked nonchalantly.

"I never pissed my pants, you stupid boar!" Murata yelled back, much to Inosuke's chagrin. "I wasn't talking to you, so you can just shut up!" He stopped screaming when another body came his way, trying to cut him. "I know that wasn't my finest moment back there but I'm also a Demon Slayer! I'll find a way to hold them off! Now I know about the threads so I can cut them and these guys' movements are simple! I just have to watch out for the spiders and I'll be fine!" He assured them. "There are probably people from the other units being controlled as well, so you three go ahead!"

"Understood! We appreciate this!" Tanjiro agreed. "Let's go Inosuke!" And dragged his friend with him in the direction he had pointed to earlier; even as Inosuke kept saying that he wanted to punch him for calling him stupid.

"You better not die, you hear me?!" Genya yelled, also following behind them.

* * *

In another part of the forest.

Tanjiro, Inosuke and Genya continued to run forward.

"Damn it! I'm gonna punch that guy if it's the last thing I do!" Inosuke said, clearly angry.

"Stop talking like that!" Tanjiro quickly scolded him.

"He called me a stupid boar, okay Monjiro?"

"It's Tanjiro!"

"How do you get his name wrong?" Genya asked, genuinely confused, it's not a hard name to say.

"You shut up, Gunya!"

"It's Genya! Come on, it's even easier to say than his!" The Shinazugawa complained, pointing to his red haired friend.

"In any case, this is the right direction, right?"

"My senses never lie!" Inosuke answered the Breath of Water user proudly. "But… what the hell are these annoying threads?!" He moved his hands around to get rid of the continuously increasing number of threads.

"That must be how close we are to the demon!" The Kamado answered.

"Seems likely." The teen with the purple kimono agreed. "Oh and Tanjiro"

"Yes?"

"…Ozaki-san was with us too, she was in a different unit, though, so I don't know what happened to her." He said with a worried frown.

"…I see." Tanjiro answered. 'I hope she's alright.'

Sadly, he learned her fate sooner rather than later.

The three stopped at the sound of more strings moving around.

"That's…" The Kamado trailed off in horror as he saw his former overseer, threads attached to most of her body, her sword held in her right hand stabbed into the throat of a corps member, long dead, while her left hand held the head of another one.

"No. Don't come any closer." She begged, tears falling from her eyes. "Please summon someone of higher rank! Or everyone will get killed! Please."

"Ozaki-san!"

"You… Tanjiro!" She called out after hearing his voice. "Get away! Run!" Even as she yelled this, her body betrayed her will and moved to attack.

* * *

In a small clearing of the dense forest, sitting on top of a rock, a petite woman with milky white skin, red markings and long white hair with pale green eyes, wearing a white kimono that exposed part of her chest and a beaded necklace had her hands extended, fine threads attached to her fingertips as she moved them around.

"I wonder if you can defeat them." She thought out loud as she moved the strings. "The closer you get to me, the thicker and stronger these threads are, and the more powerful my dolls become."

"Mother…" The woman froze for a moment at the sound of that voice before quickly turning in its direction.

Standing near a tree was the demon that had told Tanjiro and the others to leave their family alone.

"You can win, right?" The boy asked with a neutral, almost bored, tone.

"Rui…" She whispered in fear at the sight of her 'son'.

"Don't you think this is taking too much time?" Rui spoke again, still with the same tone. "You'd better hurry up or I'm gonna tell Father."

Those words seemed to be the trigger to get her out of her semi-frozen state.

"I can do it! I can do it, all right? Mother promises to protect you!" Rui's 'mother' said almost hysterically. "So, please! Not your father! Don't tell your father! Just not him!" She practically begged, clearly terrified of Rui is 'father'.

Rui remained silent for a moment, simply staring at her with his neutral expression.

"Then, hurry it up." He said simply before walking away.

The 'mother' was practically hyperventilating, a stark contrast to Rui's calm demeanor before she forced herself out of it.

"Die! Die! Just die already!" She yelled, moving her hands around non-stop. "Or else there'll be hell for me to pay!"

Whatever had her so scared, it was enough for her to abandon any thought but the one of killing the intruders.

'No more… I don't want to suffer more… just die! Die! I don't want to suffer!'

* * *

'Damn it!' Genya cursed.

Not only Ozaki but also other demon slayers were being controlled by this demon and making them attack.

The worst part was one who clearly had his arms and legs broken, as they were bend in a way they shouldn't be, and he literally begged them to kill him due to the pain.

Inosuke was quick to agree until Tanjiro told him not to. In another situation, it would have been kind of funny to watch the dual wielder dodge attacks while also complaining at Tanjiro but not in this one.

'They won't let us pass… screw it! It's not worth their lives!'

"Tanjiro!" Genya called out as he dodged a slash and moved closer to him. "That box, it's the same you were carrying when we first met, right?" He made sure to convey the meaning behind his words with his eyes.

"That's right but why… you-"

"I hate to ask but there are no other demons around that I can take a bite from." The Shinazugawa interrupted. "Don't worry, just a bit of blood will be enough, I have no intention of actually biting her."

"The hell are you two talking about?!" Inosuke yelled, dodging more strikes.

"I know you don't want to reveal her existence but-"

"I understand!" This time, Tanjiro interrupted him. "Their lives aren't worth this secret."

"Hehe, my thoughts exactly." Genya said with a chuckle.

"Nezuko." The Kamado called out and not a moment later, his box opened, Nezuko quickly coming out and landing on the ground in her normal form.

"Hey, it's been a while." Genya greeted her, blocking a slash and then grabbing his assailant by the neck of his uniform to then throw him away.

Nezuko looked at him for a moment before smiling under her muzzle and humming in greeting.

"Nezuko, you remember what Genya was able to do, right?" The younger Kamado thought for a moment before nodding. "There are no other demons around so he needs some of your blood, please give it to him."

It took her a moment to process her brother's words and then she quickly dug her claw-like nails into her palm, drawing some blood.

"Hm, hm!" She called out, her palm extended towards the teen with the mohawk.

"Thanks and sorry!" He said before grabbing her hand and, although a bit embarrassed, began to suck the blood. 'Hm?' After cleaning her hand, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve while looking at the ground. "You know, demons taste awful but your sister's blood is quite sweet."

"…thank you?" Tanjiro said hesitantly.

"Yeah, I don't think I'd know how to react to such a statement either." Genya chuckled.

A controlled corpse tried to slash at him but Genya easily stopped the hand that held the sword with his own, not letting it move an inch.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll handle this!" He yelled as he looked back up, his features already demon-like.

"Oi, what the hell happened to you?! Can your sister make someone stronger, Gonpachiro?!" Inosuke yelled, noticing the change.

"Inosuke!" Tanjiro called out. "I promise I will explain everything later but for now, please just trust me and guide me to the demon!"

"…alright! But you will explain!" The Hashibira agreed with a huff.

"What… that's a demon and… Shinazugawa, you…" While Tanjiro, Inosuke and Nezuko ran away and Genya intercepted anyone that tried to stop them, Ozaki could only stare in astonishment, her mind not being able to fully process what just happened.

"Sorry, Ozaki-san, that's a long story." Genya called out. "We'll tell you after we get out of this." He said as he blocked another strike with his blade.

"Th- look out!" She yelled when her body was yanked forward to stab at him.

Genya tried to move out of the way but a barely alive slayer got in his way, so Ozaki's sword ended up going right through him.

"No… not again…" Tears began to fall from Ozaki's eyes once more as the two other 'dolls' moved to give chase.

"Hey, puppeteer, you're listening, right?" Genya spoke, not sounding like he was in pain at all. "You better get ready." He yanked off the sword in his gut and rushed towards the other two humans, kicking the dead one back while keeping the barely alive one at bay with his sword. "Because your head will roll today!" The Mizunoto roared, breaking the clash with his comrade and pushing him back. "You're not getting past me!" The Shinazugawa declared.

The ensuing fight was, in simple terms, a bloody mess.

Genya continued to force all the 'dolls' to stay there and not give chase to his comrades but, as much as he would like to, he is not skilled enough with the sword to block and parry all of their attacks.

So he simply took them.

Gritting his teeth to push through the pain and yanking out their blades from his body. His clothes now had a lot of holes and tears in it but the flesh beneath continued to regenerate even as he received wounds.

The only attacks that he made sure he absolutely doesn't take are the ones directed at his neck; while he doesn't completely understand how his ability works, much less why he has it, he doesn't feel like testing if he can survive decapitation, even less so if it's coming from a Nichirin blade.

Luckily for him, the puppeteer seemed to be either worried or occupied since the attacks aimed at his neck were few and far between and even the movements they made had become repetitive and mostly easy to predict.

.

"I'm still standing right here." Genya taunted, his clothes were covered in blood and the top of his uniform looked like it would fall off at any moment but he didn't look like he would move at all.

He continued to stand there, a bulwark between the controlled humans and his comrades behind.

'I say that but I don't know how long my transformation will last or if I can continue to stop them.' While his partial 'demonization' gave him enhanced strength and the ability to regenerate quickly, he was not impervious to fatigue. He would last longer than most people in his situation but he could not continue fighting forever, even if he had access to more demon blood in the middle of battle, he simply couldn't recuperate from fatigue by eating demons.

He doesn't know why, maybe the mutation in his body took away all of the energy he would use to recover from fatigue, maybe it was a result of not being a true demon, maybe something else entirely but the fact was, he will eventually run out of energy.

_THUD_

But it seems he is safe for today.

One after another, all of the 'puppets' began to fall to the ground, as if all their strings were cut at the same time.

'…_sigh _took you long enough.' The black haired teen thought with a chuckle as he sat down for a moment to catch his breath. '…no, rest later, I need to give first aid.' With that thought, he forced his battered body up and looked for the people that were still alive among his comrades.

* * *

A few moments before Genya's battle ended.

'Alright, it worked.' Tanjiro thought in relief.

After separating from Genya, Tanjiro asked Nezuko to go back into the box; people already saw her but he would rather keep her existence a secret to others for as long as possible.

He is aware those that survived could report her but he would think about it later.

As they continued to close the distance to the demon, not only did the threads increased in number but they also found a headless demon with a large body and blades instead of hands with threads attached to it.

The two swordsmen were worried for a moment, since there wasn't a head to cut, but Tanjiro thought of doing a monk's robe cut in it, it would be harder than cutting his head like normal but it's not like they had any alternatives.

Inosuke had quickly jumped forward, thinking he could do it on his own, only for the headless demon to prove quite stronger than the corps members they had found so far, being able to graze Inosuke and distract him for the spiders to attach strings to him.

If it wasn't because Tanjiro intervened he would have died and/or become another 'puppet'.

The Hashibira yelled to 'don't make him any giddier' when he told him to fight together but there was no time for a discussion.

Tanjiro kneeled so his friend could use him as a platform and cut off the demon's arms and then jump high, while he used a water breathing form to cut the demon's legs and bring it to its knees.

Aided by gravity, Inosuke began to fall towards the demon and couldn't help but think one thing.

'This is annoying.' The way Tanjiro thought and how things seemed to go his way was, for him, annoying. 'It's like it was preordained, flowing naturally as the water from a river; it's not about going first for him, it's the battle! It's the overall flow that he's watching!' Groaning, he used both of his blades to perform the monk robe cut, defeating the demon.

"It worked! You defeated it, Inosuke!" The Kamado said happily.

The masked teen simply stood still in the same position as when he landed after cutting the demon.

"Inosuke?"

Instead of answering, he threw away his swords and ran towards the red haired swordsman.

"Anything you can do, I can do, too, dumbass!" He yelled, grabbing Tanjiro by his waist and then throwing him away.

'What… wait…' His nose had began to work better as they got closer to the demon so he was able to sniff it out. "This scent… so that's what you were thinking, Inosuke."

.

'They got me! They got me!' Rui's 'mother' thought in fear. 'Even though that doll was my fastest and strongest! It's Rui's fault for coming to see me with his threats! And that other guy that wouldn't fall that kept distracting me!' She did consider letting go of her control over the 'dolls' that were fighting the one with the purple kimono but that would only mean that yet another person would be coming towards her. 'What do I do? What do I do?'

She didn't have much time to think, since she felt the presence of someone above her.

With the moon at his back, Tanjiro was quickly falling towards the 'Mother' Spider demon, his sword poised to strike.

'He'll kill me! He'll chop off my head! Think! You have to think!' Her mind worked frantically to try and think of a way to survive, she couldn't bring more dolls and she wasn't the type of demon that could fight directly, calling out for help was an option but she doubts the other members of her 'family' would be able to reach her, if they even bother to try to begin with. 'Think! I'll die if I don't'… but…' Then she realized something. 'If I die, I'll be released.' Her thoughts went back to Rui and Rui's 'father', convincing her of her decision.

Letting go of the strings still attached to her fingertips she extended her arms forward and raised her head, presenting her neck for it to be cut.

'And then, I'll know peace.' She closed her eyes, waiting for the blade that will end her suffering.

.

'She…' The Kamado quickly realized what the demon was doing. 'Then, the fifth… no, before that.' As he reached the demon's position, instead of cutting off her head like he originally planned to, he let his momentum carry him forward and, once he landed, he quickly turned around and placed his sword near her neck.

"…eh?" The demon woman opened her eyes, confused as to why there was no pain, before moving her hands to her neck and realize that it was still attached. "What…?"

"Don't move." Tanjiro ordered, his blade mere inches from her neck and ready to sever it at the first sign of aggression.

"Why… why didn't you kill me?" She asked, confusion clear in her voice but not daring to look back at him.

"Because I have something I want to ask first." The Kamado answered. "Why do you kill and eat humans?"

"…what?" The woman almost looked back in shock at such a question but stopped herself. "I'm a demon… I need to eat."

"If I told you there is a way for you to live as a demon but without having to eat humans, what would you do?"

"…what?" She repeated her earlier question. "That's… that's not possible."

"It is." He said back calmly. "Please answer my question, what would you do?"

"I…" The white haired demon couldn't answer; she had never even considered the possibility of something like that being possible.

If you're a demon then you need to eat humans, it's as simple as that, there is no alternative.

"I… don't know." She finally said. "I… I've already killed and eaten people… why would you offer me something like that? Can you just forgive me for it?"

"No." His answer came as fast as all the others. "It is not my place to forgive you, it's possible you can't ever _be_ forgiven… but I know that being a demon doesn't make you evil."

Her eyes widened at such a statement.

A Demon Slayer was telling her, a demon, that she wasn't evil just because she was one; while she hasn't encountered many hunters and even less hunters that would actually say anything beyond 'die demon', she is certain that this is beyond unusual.

Her mind reasoned that this couldn't be real, maybe she was already beheaded and her mind was playing a trick on her or her executioner was playing her, giving her false hope before cutting off her head.

Slowly, very slowly, to ensure the swordsman doesn't perceive her movements as a threat, the white haired woman turned her head to look over her shoulder.

'…such kind eyes.' That was the first thing that came to her mind.

She expected to see contempt, hate, disgust, maybe even sadistic glee but no, the only thing that she could see in those red orbs and the swordsman's expression was kindness.

"If… if what you're saying is true... and you're offering to show me this path… then I would gladly take it." She answered after a moment that, to her, felt like an eternity.

'…she is not lying.' Tanjiro confirmed this by sniffing the air; while her scent was the same as most of the demons he has encountered, there were no lies in her words.

"I believe you." The Kamado said with a smile, moving his sword away from her neck and sheathing it.

"You… you do?"

"Yes." He nodded. "I will tell you what I meant but first, can you tell me what's happening in this mountain? And how come that demon that looks like a kid said that you were 'family'? I thought demons couldn't have one."

Her eyes immediately widened in fear.

"R-Rui… he… he… you saw him?"

'She's terrified.' The Kamado gulped. 'I haven't smelled so much fear since that time with the demon that could control others when I asked about Muzan.'

"He… he makes us act as his family and… punishes us… when we do something wrong." The demon woman explained, hugging herself to try and stop shaking to no avail. "I… I take it back… I can't leave he… he won't just kill me… he'll make an example of me and… and… and…"

"Miss, miss!" Tanjiro called out, gently grabbing her shoulders. "He won't hurt you! I will defeat him here and make sure he doesn't come after you again!"

"Wh-what…?"

"Unless they surrender like you so I can offer them this same chance… I won't leave this mountain until every other demon here is defeated." He assured her with pure determination in his eyes.

"Th-they won't… I-I know even just me accepting is strange but… Rui, in particular, he won't accept your offer, no matter what… if, if by some miracle he says yes… it will probably be just to trick you."

"Don't worry, he won't trick me." Tanjiro said. "I can smell when someone is lying to me, that's how I know you're sincere." With that, he took his hands of her shoulders and looked around. "Come out, please."

A cat's meow was heard before said animal appeared.

"This is Chachamaru, it will be your guide." He said, kneeling to pet the cat. "And here…" He took off his fox mask and gave it to her. "This is proof that I sent you."

"S-send me…?" She repeated.

"However, make sure no one spots you, including other members of the Demon Slayer Corps; this is not something that the corps is doing."

"It… it isn't? I-I mean, it makes sense, but then why…"

"Sorry but it would take too long to explain, the people you'll meet will give you the details." The Kamado said with a small smile. "Now go, I hope we can meet again under better circumstances."

The demon woman looked at him, then the mask in her hands, then back at him.

"…thank you." She finally said.

Tanjiro's smile widened.

"Then, I'll be going now."

"W-wait, what's your name?!"

"Kamado Tanjiro." With that, he bowed and began running back the way he came.

The demon stared at his retreating form, noticing that he showed his back to her without the slightest fear of retribution.

'This… am I dreaming?' Whether or not she was, there was no other path now, she made her choice, if she tries to go back to Rui then who knows what he will do to her. "Hm… nice to meet you… please show me the way?" She said towards Chachamaru.

The cat moved its head to the left, signaling for her to follow.

She began running after the cat, giving one more glance behind her in the direction of her savior and felt the metaphorical strings that Rui had placed around her heart loosen ever so slightly.

* * *

**Ok, it's finally done!**

**I am fairly certain you can all guess what the letter Tanjiro sent to Tamayo was about now, right?**

**By the way, I am genuinely a bit mad; you see, I wanted to have this chapter up yesterday but, after writing around 6000 words in one long sitting, ending at around 7am, I simply couldn't think anymore, I needed sleep!**

**Then this day was a rather busy one but I won't bore you with the details; I had to go buy some stuff and it took time, let's leave it at that.**

**Anyway!**

**Full honesty, I didn't plan to let Mother Spider Demon survive back when I first began thinking about this story but a friend of mine from a discord server loves her and gushed about her and then I began thinking 'but what if…' and from there a bunch of other ideas involving her came to my head, before I knew it I had already included her in my plans for the future of this story.**

**Also, I decided to take the advice someone gave me in a comment in ao3 (I am publishing this story there as well, in case you prefer that platform to read it) and didn't go too into detail for things that already happened in canon. I believe it makes it better, not only for you since you don't have to read segments that are things you already know, but to me since I genuinely have a much better time writing things I think of instead of going to the anime/manga and doing the equivalent of a copy-paste.**

**There will still be certain sections that happen in the anime/manga that I feel I need to include since it adds to characterization, among other reasons, but I hope I can make those be the minority from now on and focus more on the things I want to change for this story.**

**Alright, I think that's it.**

**As always, I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to leave a comment.**

**Until next time!**


	19. The Spider Family

**The Spider Family**

**.**

**Guest review answer corner.**

**Guest: You're welcome! Genya deserved more screen time, hehe.**

**Well, I can't really give you answers without spoilers; suffice to say, Mother Spider Demon surviving and people seeing Nezuko will have an interesting effect on how Tanjiro's trial will go.**

**Thank you for the comment! Until next time!**

**PS: Here is hoping you don't get buried in more paperwork, haha.**

**.**

**Hello again!**

**Sorry that this chapter took a while; I'll be completely honest, I got Persona 5 Royal and have been playing the heck out of it.**

**Such a great game.**

**Note: Thank you so much to Crisperia from discord for the help writing the part of Zenitsu vs Brother Spider Demon.**

**Without further ado, on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

'Why? Why are they here of all places?!' Rui's 'mother' wondered in a panic while hiding, seeing several people with the demon slayer uniform ahead of the path the cat was guiding her towards thanks to her spiders; they were checking the bodies of their dead comrades.

"They're dead." One of them, a man wearing a tri-color haori and with a fox mask in his waist said solemnly.

A girl with another fox mask, this one held in the side of her face, placed a hand on his shoulder.

"There is nothing else to do here." A woman with a purple butterfly shaped hair ornament commented.

"It might be best if we split up." A man with a red haori commented.

"I agree with Tomioka-san." The woman with the butterfly ornament said before turning to another female, younger than her by the looks of it, with her hair tied in a side-ponytail with a pink butterfly ornament. "Kanao, look around for survivors and ensure the Kakushi can move without worry while we continue forward; is that fine with you?" She directed the last part to the other three.

"Yes." They nodded.

'What do I do? They're going to search the area, they will find me if I'm not careful!' Her mind raced, trying to find a way out of this. 'If… if I use my strings and-'

'_I hope we can meet again under better circumstances._'

Her hands trembled for a moment before she closed them, hard.

'No… that would mean that he shouldn't have let me go.' The white haired woman frowned.

It wasn't easy to stop thinking about attacking humans before they attack her.

"Prr."

She looked down and saw the cat using a paw to poke her legs, grabbing her attention.

"We can't go this way… I think it would be better if we hide until they pass and then go." She explained, the cat nodding in understanding.

'For now… I'll try to go west; it's in the opposite direction of the bodies and it's likely that they will follow that trail instead of going in the opposite direction.' Nodding to herself, she severed her control over the spiders that were acting as her scouts and began to move; Chachamaru following behind her.

* * *

Zenitsu was having a bad night.

No, scratch that, 'bad' doesn't begin to explain how shitty his night was going so far.

He had entered the mountain the moment he realized that Tanjiro was still carrying Nezuko when he did and began yelling about how he shouldn't bring her to a dangerous area like this.

But, once the initial shock wore off and he was able to think semi-calmly, he realized that _maybe_ he shouldn't be here.

The entire mountain put him on edge, the sounds around, the atmosphere, not to mention the fact that there could be demons lurking around, just waiting to get a bite of him, some bug already did.

But the worst part was yet to come, when he saw what could only be described as an oversized spider with a human head.

He had obviously began to run away, yelling about what the heck that was, until he reached a clearing in the forest.

Although that was by far the worse place he had seen in that mountain so far.

Held in the air by several strings attached to the trees around, there was a large wooden shack and from those strings there were people tied up, some looking in pain while their bodies had some weird purple spots, one of them had his limbs completely mutated and looking like spider legs, there were even a few members of the corps.

When the house creaked, making the Thunder Breath practitioner yelp in fear, a very large version of what Zenitsu had seen moments prior came out.

It was a demon, obviously, looking to be a male judging by his face but that was the only part of it that could be considered 'human', from the neck down, he had a human size spider's body.

The demon slowly moved down using a thread while Zenitsu stared in fear, stopping a few feet off the ground and grinning maliciously at the swordsman.

"You know what! I refuse to speak with anyone like you!" Zenitsu yelled before turning around and booking it out of the place.

"It's no use running away." The spider said with a chuckle. "You're already losing."

"What are you muttering about? I don't wanna hear it, so stop talking to me!" Zenitsu answered, still running. "I don't like guys like you, all right?" He stopped after judging that he was a good distance away, hoping that the demon couldn't get him.

"You already know how dire your situation is, don't you?"

"What do you mean?!"

"Take a look at your hands."

"Huh? What's wrong with my-" The blond stopped mid-sentence, seeing the veins in his hand bulging and a large part of his left hand covered in purple spots like the ones the people tied up in the air have. "What's this?!"

"It's poison. You got bitten by a spider, right? That poison will turn you into a spider too." The spider-human hybrid said with a laugh. "In another 30 minutes, you'll be my slave, crawling all over the ground!"

The demon then got a pocket watch and began marking the time-stamps in which the poison would take effect with a sadistic grin, clearly enjoying the fear on the blonde's face.

Zenitsu then climbed a tree, complaining and crying about how he doesn't want to turn into a spider.

The demon was actually baffled by his behavior.

What kind of demon hunter was he to just begin crying and complaining? He was expecting at least some sort of fight, some words of defiance, _something _other than this.

His confusion turned to boredom when Zenitsu suddenly fell unconscious on top of the tree he had climbed while his slaves crawled up towards him.

'I can't believe how spineless he is.' He thought as Zenitsu's unconscious body began to fall to the ground. 'He's gonna fall onto his head and die… what the hell?'

.

'Gramps… you saved me from my debt and took me in, even continued to train me despite all the times I tried to run away,' Zenitsu thought, remembering his master, Jigoro Kuwajima, as his body continued to fall.

He remembered how he also climbed up a tree after a particularly hard training session with his master, screaming that he couldn't handle it anymore while Jigoro tried to reassure him and convince him to go back to training. Suddenly, clouds covered the sky and a thunderbolt struck the tree and also him in the process, turning his hair from black to yellow. He was grateful for surviving that, but also felt that he must be the most unlucky guy in the world. Now his hair had this weird color and ironically he still couldn't perform all Thunder breathing forms. 'Sorry that I wasn't a better student.'

_'It's fine if you cry, it's fine if you run away.'_ Those words suddenly sounded in his mind. _'But, don't give up!'_

.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form…" Zenitsu suddenly moved, adjusting his posture mid-air and using the tree as a stepping stone to close the distance to the demon.

Although caught off guard, he was quick to recover and he spit out a purple acid, forcing the swordsman to stop his attack and twist his body to dodge.

From the demon's point of view, it was as if he had suddenly turned into a different person.

He didn't give the demon hunter time to unleash his attack, though, quickly ordering his 'spiders' to attack him, making Zenitsu abandon the stance he took and begin to move around to avoid the attacks.

But no matter how many times he was thwarted, Zenitsu continued to take the same stance.

'I see, this guy…' The demon grinned evilly. 'He can only use one attack.'

.

'I can't use any forms of Thunder Breathing except for the first one. Sorry for being such a bad student.'

'_It's fine, Zenitsu._' Again, words from his master sounded in his mind. '_If you can only do one thing, hone it to perfection. Hone it to its utmost limit!_'

.

Zenitsu dodged another acid spit and the demon's slaves moved to where he would land; ready to inject more poison in his body.

'This is the end.' The spider demon thought with a wicked smile.

.

'_You endured all that hellish training! You'll be rewarded without fail!_'

'_Leave!_' Another voice, his sibling disciple's, sounded. '_You're just wasting the master's time, he is a former Pillar, all the time he uses in training you is a waste! Aren't you ashamed of spending all day crying like a baby? Why do you insist on clinging here? Why are you even here?_'

'It's not that I stayed, I have no parents and no one ever expected something from me. No one thought I could become strong and protect anyone or make someone like Nezuko-chan happy…'

His memories shifted to his many attempts at running away.

'…before, if I cried and gave up just once, people would leave me behind, Gramps never did; no matter how I tried to escape, he would always drag me back.'

'_You're an eyesore! Get out of my sight! Stop wasting Sensei's time!_'

'Kaigaku, you are incredible. Being able to fight demons without fear and learning all but the first form of Thunder Breathing, it's something truly amazing.'

'_Don't ever give up!_'

'But…'

'_If you can only do one thing then hone it to perfection!'_

'At least in my dreams…'

_'Hone it to its utmost limit!_'

'Gramps' words… sound a lot louder than yours!'

.

Zenitsu managed to dodge the spiders trying to attack him by jumping back but suddenly coughed blood, the poison beginning to take effect and halting his movements enough for the spiders to jump and surround him.

"Kahahaha, that should do it for him." The demon celebrated, his slaves already surrounding the swordsman. "Wha-?"

When something happened.

All of the 'spiders' were suddenly blown away from the blond swordsman and the air seemed to be vibrating around him.

"What-?!"

"Thunder Breathing, First Form… Thunderclap and Flash!" The spider jumped and spit more acid. "Sixfold!" But it was for naught.

"He vanished?!"

He saw a flash of yellow but he wasn't able to keep track of the swordsman.

'For now, I'll go back inside my house, if he tries to break though one of the walls, I'll have an opening; there is no place for him to jump and get through the door.'

But he was wrong.

Zenitsu dashed six times.

The first five, he moved between two trees, moving higher with every dash; for the sixth one, he used one of the strings the demon had made, if they could hold a house they could certain hold him, and used it to dash towards the demon, unsheathing his sword, cutting his head and sheathing it again almost at the same time, the speed he was moving at making him break through the other side of the house and stay in the air for a moment with the full moon behind him.

* * *

Elsewhere in the forest.

"What was that… a thunder?" Tanjiro wondered out loud, thinking he heard something. "I don't smell storm clouds, though."

After telling Rui's 'mother' to run with Chachamaru he had gone back to Inosuke and, while the masked swordsman continued to brag about how he could do anything he could, Tanjiro was only focused on bandaging the wounds he got from that headless demon, much to the other teen's chagrin who continued to squirm out of the bandages.

After that, the two continued to search the area for more demons, arriving at a river that seemed to run down the mountain.

"Huh? A thunder? There are no clouds in the sky." Inosuke answered.

"Yeah… in any case, Inosuke." The Kamado called out. "I think you should-"

He stopped mid-sentence when there was movement around the forest side and the two immediately moved their hands to their weapons.

"…Huh?" A man wearing the corps' uniform appeared from the foliage.

"Kaigaku-san?" Tanjiro said in surprise.

"You… what the hell are you doing here?" Kaigaku asked.

"We were ordered to come here and help." The Kamado answered, letting go of his sword.

"I see…" The Breath of Thunder user frowned before looking at the masked swordsman. "What's up with him?"

"Huh?" Inosuke asked. "You have a problem with me or something?"

"He is Inosuke, we met outside the Tsuzumi mansion." Tanjiro chimed in before a fight could break out.

"And who are you anyway? Why were you in the forest?" The Hashibira growled, not liking the tone Kaigaku used when he asked about him.

"I'm Kaikgaku, a Kanoe; I was with a group of other demon hunters but we were ambushed by a demon that could control other people's bodies, I separated to look for that demon but I didn't have luck so far."

"Ha!" Inosuke barked a laugh. "Well good luck with that, Tontaro and I already defeated that demon!" He proclaimed.

"It's Tanjiro."

"…you what?"

"Monjiro gave it the final strike but it was thanks to my help that he managed to reach it."

"Him mispronouncing my name aside." The Kamado muttered. "It's true; we found that demon and stopped it, everyone should be free of those strings now."

"Strings?"

"You don't even know that? That's how the demon was controlling people." Inosuke called out a bit mockingly.

"Now listen here you little…!" Kaigaku trailed off and his eyes widened, looking behind the two teens and quickly unsheathing his sword.

The other two did the same and looked behind to see a girl, similar to the demon that was controlling the strings, but her hair is shorter and her kimono covers her entire body.

The girl stood frozen in place at the other side of the river for a moment as if she was just caught doing something wrong before beginning to run away.

"Get back here!" Inosuke yelled as he ran after her, Tanjiro and Kaigaku quickly following him.

"Father!" The girl yelled.

"Who are you calling father-?" The Hashibira stopped in his tracks and jumped back, landing on the surface of a rock that surpassed the river's depth, when something suddenly fell from the sky.

A demon, with a similar build as the headless one Tanjiro and Inosuke fought, with dark brown skin, red dot-like marks in his body and white hair that reached past his shoulders stood between the slayers and the demon girl.

"Don't come near my family!" He roared, revealing his face; it resembled a gigantic spider's with several eyes and pincers in both cheeks.

The 'father', as the girl called him, swung his fist towards Inosuke forcing him to move to jump back once more, the rock he previously stood on completely shattering on impact.

"I'm leaving the rest to you, Father." The girl said before leaving.

The 'father' moved immediately after his first blow and tried to hit Inosuke while he was still in mid-air with his right fist.

'Second Form! Water Wheel!' Tanjiro quickly moved and unleashed a technique towards the arm that was moving towards his friend to stop the attack.

'Fifth Form! Heat Lightning!' While Kaigaku aimed for the demon's neck.

The demon used his left arm to block the attack from the black haired swordsman, while his right arm continued to stay attached despite Tanjiro trying to cut through it.

'Not good, I can't cut it!'

The demon moved his right arm down and then his head forward for a head-butt.

Tanjiro saw his intention and met the attack head-on, literally, as he head-butted back; their heads making a loud _thud _sound when they collided.

Inosuke, having recovered his footing, dashed forwards and aimed his twin blades at the demon's legs but, like the other two's weapons, they weren't able to cut through the demon's skin.

"Damn it, so tough!" He complained.

The demon gave a wordless battle-cry and forced all the hunters away, swinging his arms and the leg that were attacked to get rid of them.

'Not good, I can't cut him even when using a technique.' Tanjiro thought after landing on top of a rock in the river. 'What should I do? I might be able to if I use the Tenth Form-'

His thoughts were interrupted when the Father Spider Demon glared at him and lunged, screaming about not 'going near his family' as he swung his fist.

* * *

'This is horrible.' Makomo thought as she and Sabito followed the trail of bodies; Giyu and Shinobu had moved in a different direction.

"There is someone up ahead." Sabito said.

She saw him as well; a member of the corps, based on the uniform, with black hair and he seemed to be looking over the bodies of his dead comrades.

The two hastened their pace, making more noise than necessary to call his attention.

The man turned and put a hand on his blade but stopped when he saw who they were.

"We're the reinforcements, are you alright?" Sabito said when they were within talking distance.

"Ah, yes… wait, Sabito-san?"

"Hm? …sorry, have we met?" He asked, a bit apologetically.

"Ah, not exactly, we went to the Final Selection together and you saved me from a demon but we never really met." The black haired man answered. "I know of you because… well, because you're a Pillar; anyway, I'm Murata."

"I… see…" Sabito trailed off.

"I'm Makomo and you know Sabito, can you tell us what happened here?" Makomo asked to get things back on track.

"Oh, well…"

Murata explained how they were ambushed and his comrades began to attack each other due to the demon's power and how he managed to escape.

"…after that, my partner, Genya, and the reinforcements that came before you continued forward while I held them off, they suddenly stopped moving so I'm guessing they managed to defeat that demon and I was trying to see if any of them was still alive but…" He trailed off with a sorrowful expression.

"I see." Sabito frowned and shook his head. "Which direction did they go?"

"That way." Murata quickly pointed. "Please hurry, Genya, Tanjiro and Inosuke are still only Mizunotos, although they're probably stronger than that I'm not sure if they will be alright."

"Wait, what was that?" Makomo did a double take.

"What?"

"Those names."

"Oh, Tanjiro and Inosuke, they're the reinforcements I mentioned."

Sabito and Makomo exchanged a look before quickly rushing forward.

"If you go back the way we came you'll find some Kakushi, tell them to give you first aid." Sabito yelled over his shoulder. "We better hurry."

"Yeah." Makomo nodded before smiling. "Good for you, Sabito."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Saving people during the Final Selection wasn't a mistake."

"…yeah." The Water Pillar answered with a small smile. "But I'll think about that later." His face turned serious and he moved his mask to the side of his head.

Makomo nodded as the two continued to run in the direction of his sibling disciple.

* * *

'Crap, that guy is way too hard to cut!' Inosuke complained as he dodged blows from the Father Spider Demon. 'And he just sent Kentaro flying like it was nothing, damn it, I really wanted to see what he was going to do!'

'_Don't die until I get back! Make sure you don't die!_' The red haired swordsman's words as he was sent flying sounded in his head.

"Ah, dammit, this is so annoying!" The dual wielder dodged a blow and tried to aim for the demon's neck.

The demon used his other arm to block, the blade barely cutting his skin.

'Thunder Breathing, Fifth Form, Heat Lighting!' Kaigaku tried to use the opportunity to aim for the neck from the opposite side but the demon moved his arm and put Inosuke between them.

The black haired swordsman clicked his tongue and tried to dodge the other demon hunter to continue his attack but was forced to stop and jump back when the demon tried to kick him.

Inosuke realized that he can't cut him and retrieved his weapon before taking some distance.

"Damn it, stop getting in my way!" Kaigaku yelled at Inosuke.

"Huh?! The hell are you talking about?!" He yelled back. "That was the demon that used me as a shield, are you blind or something?!"

"Stay away!" The two stopped and jumped in opposite direction when their opponent roared and lunged towards them.

'This guy… he is not like Monjiro, he doesn't try to see the flow of battle or coordinate at all.' The masked swordsman thought, getting a moment of respite when the 'father' continued to attack Kaigaku. 'Then it's up to me! Come on, how can we beat this guy together? Think, think…' Inosuke tried to come up with a way of coordinating with the other swordsman.

"Stop staring into space and attack, you masked moron!"

'Wait…'

"What the hell am I doing?!" Inosuke yelled before rushing towards the demon, gaining his attention. "I almost got infected by Tontaro's germs!" He jumped and brought one of his blades down. "Using my head? Cooperating with someone? That's so not me!"

Like before, the demon used one of his arms to block it.

"If I can't cut you with one blade then I'll use two!" Inosuke used his other blade to hit the one imbedded on the demon's arm repeatedly, as if he was forging a new sword, and eventually cut through, severing the arm. "Hahahaha, see that? You're not so tough after all!"

Father Spider Demon held his severed arm before suddenly running away.

"Wha… get back here!" The Hashibira yelled as he gave chase.

'Tch, that guy is annoying.' Kaigaku thought as he caught his breath. 'Still… I'll let him handle that demon, I'll go look for that other one.' With that, the Thunder Breathing practitioner began to run in the opposite direction.

* * *

'Damn it, I have to use a form to soften the landing!' Tanjiro thought as gravity began to do its work and pulled him back to the ground.

His plan to defeat the 'father' wasn't bad, after cutting down a tree to trap him underwater, he was about to unleash the Tenth Form to cut his head but, unfortunately, the Kamado underestimated the demon's strength and he managed to get back and use the tree to attack, forcing Tanjiro to use his sword to block but he was still sent flying away.

'Second Form, Water Wheel.' Tanjiro unleashed his move when he was beginning to get near the ground, managing to avoid breaking something.

He was still off-balance and almost crashed into a tree but better than hitting the ground without anything to cushion his fall.

'I managed to land somehow!' He thought in relief, relaxing for a moment.

"GYAAAHH!"

That scream, a girl's judging by the sound, cut off any thought of resting and he quietly moved towards the source.

"I beg of you! Please stop!"

'What is this?' The swordsman wondered, kneeling near a tree to hide his presence.

He reached the source and saw the kid demon that had warned them to not disturb them when they first encountered the controlled humans and the girl that they had chased right before their 'father' appeared.

According to the kid, they are supposed to be family; so why is the girl on her knees covering her face while some blood drops fell and the kid looking to be the one responsible?

"What are you looking at? This isn't some show, you know." The kid said nonchalantly, not even looking in the swordsman's direction, a spider-web held between his hands.

"Wh-what are you doing? Aren't you two allies?" Tanjiro asked in return.

"Allies?" The kid repeated with a bored tone. "Don't put our bonds on the same level as something so flimsy."

'What?'

"We're family, we're joined by a powerful bond." He continued. "And besides, this is between me and my sister. So don't interfere… or I'll carve you up." The kid looked in his direction for the first time and slightly moved his hands apart, making the spider web a bit bigger while his 'sister' stayed still on her knees, looking at the ground.

The Kamado gulped, he could tell that this kid was dangerous; in fact, he is probably the 'Rui' that the demon he spared talked about.

"You're wrong!" Yet, he couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Whether it's your family or an ally, if you have a strong bond between you, then either one should be just as precious! Calling it flimsy if you're not related by blood… that's not true at all!" Tanjiro declared. "Not only that, but those who have a strong bond give off the scent of trust! But all I'm picking up from you two is the scent of terror, hatred and repulsion!" He stood up, glaring at Rui. "That's not what you call a bond! It's counterfeit! It's forged!"

Rui's only visible eye widened and his bored expression turned into a glare; his body seemingly trembling with rage at what Tanjiro had just said.

"Oh!" Before either could end their stare down, another person joined. "Look at that, a demon that's just the right size." A demon hunter with short black hair said, smirking. "Even I can take down a kid demon like this one."

"Hold up a second please-!"

"You can just back off!" The swordsman interrupted Tanjiro. "I want to take the safe route up the ladder. Since once you move up, you get more money from the top guys." He said, looking at Tanjiro before preparing his sword and looking at the two demons. "My unit's practically been wiped out, but I'll slay myself a decent-sized demon and head down the mountain. Take this!"

"Don't do it! Stop!" The Kamado tried to warn him but it was too late.

Truthfully, it wouldn't have mattered what he said, the second the demon hunter took one step Rui had moved his hands, a moment later, the entire upper half of the demon hunter had been cut into several chunks of flesh that it would be impossible to recognize him.

'In an instant… he cut him in pieces…' Tanjiro thought in shock, the sickening sound of flesh and blood hitting the ground and the scent of blood assaulting his nostrils. 'How did he…?'

"Hey, what did you say?" The white haired demon spoke, not even bothering to look at the human he just killed, his gaze focused solely on the red haired swordsman. "Look, you… what was it that you just said?" He wasn't yelling, or even raising his voice, but, despite how softly it sounded, each word conveyed nothing but pure rage.

'This kid…' Tanjiro trailed off, feeling a level of intimidation he hadn't felt in any demon he has previously encountered, making his body tremble against his will. 'The air just got heavy and denser!' Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down. 'Inosuke, Kaigaku-san, I'm sorry! I'll go help you as soon as I finish here, just hang on until then!'

"What you just said…" The demon began, his one-eyed glare sending shivers down the human's spine. "Let's hear you say it again." A few veins in his forehead bulged. "Come on, say it, will you?"

"Sure!" Tanjiro answered, his voice clear despite understanding that he is in front of a truly frightening opponent. "I'll repeat it as many times as you want! Your bond is forged!"

* * *

"Damn! That bastard…" Inosuke thought out loud as he looked for the Fatehr Spider Demon, his breathing labored. "Where the hell did he go, dammit?" He continued for a few steps when he stumbled and almost fell to the ground "I'm telling ya, this doesn't hurt! What doesn't hurt doesn't hurt!" The dual wielder forced himself to stand upright and once again used his Seventh Fang to find the demon. 'Where are you? Where are you? …ah!' He turned towards the top of a tree. "You're there!" Right where the 'father' is, lying on top of a branch and trembling. "You idiot piece of crap! How high did you climb up?" Inosuke yelled but there was no answer, not even a 'stay away from my family', from his enemy. "Damn you! So, you're plotting to make me use my head again, huh? In your dreams!" The Hashibira declared.

"rrraaAAagghhh."

"What…? Oh, I see! He's trembling with fear and dread at the sight of me, huh?" Inosuke let out a loud laugh. "Well, it's too late for that!"

"AAHHHHH!"

"What the… now what? D-did it just shed its skin?!"

The demon jumped down and stood in front of Inosuke.

His form had changed considerably; not only did he become bulkier but his arms and legs gained blade-like protrusions, his skin had changed from a dark brown to green, the amount of his eyes increased, his teeth became sharper, his mandibles more pronounced and he the hair on top of his head, gaining five spikes going upwards instead.

'Come on, that's bulking up way too much! This is looking really bad for me! I've never sensed this much force from an opponent before!'

For the first time since he can remember, Hashibira Inosuke experienced fear; an overwhelming sense of dread in front of an opponent that all of his senses were _screaming_ he is no match for.

'No good… I can't win…' The moment his brain caught up with his instinct, his will to fight was almost extinguished, he simply let his arms go limp, barely holding onto his blades as the demon growled and moved his fist. 'I'm gonna die. I'm gonna be killed.'

'_Don't die!_'

'Eh?'

'_Don't die until I get back!_'

'That guy…'

'_Always live your lives with great pride; I wish you luck in battle!_'

'That old lady…'

"I'm not gonna lose." Inosuke whispered, tightening the hold on his weapons. "No way am I gonna lose!" He raised his guard once more. "I'm Hashibira Inosuke of the Demon Slayer Corps! Just bring it on, you dirtbag!"

_THUD_

'So fast! I can't see it!' Inosuke thought, his mind not even processing that he just hit and bounced off a few trees until he stopped flying.

The demon didn't stop there and was suddenly right in front of Inosuke again, sending another fist towards him

Inosuke barely had time to jump and avoid the hit, the tree that was behind him breaking from the impact.

'Beast Breathing, Third Fang, Devour!' The Hashibira took advantage of his position and, as he fell, used both his blades to perform an horizontal slash against the demon's neck.

_CLANG_

"It snapped! GAHH!" The moment he got distracted by his blades breaking, Father Spider Demon turned around and backhanded him, sending him crashing towards a tree.

'Crap… I failed to go on the defensive with my breath attack…'

"Grr." The demon approached the downed swordsman and grabbed him by the head and throat with one hand. "Don't come near my family! Stay away!" He repeated as he applied more pressure to his hold.

"I'm not gonna die!" Inosuke used the last of his breath to use another technique, stabbing the demon in the neck with his broken swords. 'They're in! They're in, but… what the hell? This thing isn't even flinching!'

The demon moved his arm, putting Inosuke at a distance of him, the swordsman losing his grip on the swords.

'_I'm sorry._'

'Who… who is that woman? What am I seeing?'

'_I'm sorry, Inosuke._'

'Why… who is that? And why are the faces of Tanjiro and Zenitsu showing up, and that old lady as well?'

'_I want at least you to survive, Inosuke._'

'Wh-who are you?' He lost his train of thought when he began to cough blood due to the demon's hold on him. 'I… am I really gonna die?'

_Shing_

'Eh?' The hold on his head and throat suddenly lessened and he fell someone catch him. 'Wh-what…?'

"Phew, just barely made it." Someone said and he turned to see the person holding him, a man with peach colored hair and a fox mask on the side of his head. "You are as fast as always, Makomo." He said as he carefully laid Inosuke on the ground.

"Thank you." Another voice, a girl's, answered and the Hashibira moved to see a girl with black hair and, like the man, a fox mask on the side of her head. "It's a good thing we came this way." She said, moving her sword to the side and staring at the demon, several times her size. "I'll deal with this one, you can go ahead Sabito."

"Got it, I'll leave the kid here." He answered before standing up.

'Who… who are they? And that woman… did she just cut off that demon's arm? Just like that?'

"I'll see you later." Sabito said before beginning to move.

The demon saw him and lunged in his direction to cut him off, his arm already back from his regenerative abilities and aiming to grab him with both.

_Shing_

Both of his arms were suddenly cut and the black haired woman was suddenly standing in front of the demon.

"Sorry but I can't let you get in his way." Makomo declared. "Your neck seems a bit tough so it may take me a bit but… I'll definitely cut it off."

While this happened, Inosuke could only stare in astonishment, since he didn't even realize the moment the woman had moved.

* * *

'What the hell is that idiot doing?!' Kaigaku wondered.

After separating from Inosuke he had begun to track down the girl demon, it took him a bit but he finally found her, along with another demon and Tanjiro.

'That kid… no, he may look like a kid but that is definitely the strongest demon I have encountered so far.' Even from a distance and while hiding among the trees, he could tell that something was different about that demon. 'He uses threads… and they're fast.'

"I just want to let you know, I won't kill you in one blow." The demon said towards Tanjiro after forcing him back with his threads, a few cuts already shown on the swordsman's face. "After ripping you to shreds, I'll carve you up."

The Kamado didn't answer, instead he stood there with his sword at the ready while trying to catch his breath.

'He can't approach, those threads keep forcing him back.' Kaigaku analyzed as he saw the situation develop.

He will never admit it but, while he is fairly certain that he could defeat Tanjiro if they ever fought, he knows it wouldn't be an easy fight.

Oh, he will win, this isn't just pride talking but after seeing the Kamado's abilities during their fight against the Tsuzumi demon, Kaigaku knows that he is stronger but that doesn't mean Tanjiro is so much weaker than him that it would be a landslide.

'For him to not even be able to close the distance…' Kaigaku wanted to click his tongue but stopped himself; he is not sure how sharp that demon's sense are and making an unnecessary sound could give him away.

"But, if you take back what you said just now, I'll do you a favor and kill you at once."

'…what could he have possibly said that made a demon angry?' Kaigaku couldn't help but wonder, remembering how Tanjiro stopped him when he was kicking the corpse of the tsuzumi demon.

"I won't take it back! What I said was the truth!" Tanjiro answered. "The one who is not making sense is you!"

'Is he an idiot? What good can come from trying to provoke him?' Kaigaku thought, once again resisting the urge to click his tongue.

"You're the one who's mistaken!" The red haired swordsman declared and, while Kaigaku doesn't know what happened, he can't deny that the Kamado is completely certain in whatever it is he said and will probably maintain the same answer even if he is killed.

'Idiot.'

* * *

**Alright, this seems like a good place to stop.**

**Not many differences from canon, save for Sabito, Makomo and Kaigaku, but those will come on the next chapter.**

**If all goes as planned, things should be getting interesting soon, hehe.**

**As always, I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to leave a comment.**

**Until next time.**


	20. Escape

**Escape**

**.**

**Guest review answer corner**

**Guest: Well… is this soon enough, considering when you left your comment? Haha.**

**.**

**Alright, twenty chapters already, nice.**

**Sorry that there was a longer wait than usual for this chapter, there were certain reasons (not bad ones); I'll explain at the end notes if you're interested but, for now, I'll just leave you with the chapter.**

**As always, I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba.**

* * *

'I'm tired, my eyelids feel heavy.' Zenitsu thought as he lay down on the house of the demon he had decapitated. 'I want to rest.' That thought had been passing through his mind ever since he had landed, the poison still affecting him despite defeating the demon.

'_Don't ever give up!_'

And every time, those words surfaced, making him continue to use the breathing technique to slow down the poison.

"Hello~" He heard a voice. "Are you alright?"

"…who? Gramps." Zenitsu asked before seeing a woman with purple eyes and hair and a butterfly patterned haori smiling.

"Sorry, but I'm not your grandfather." The woman answered as she kneeled down and took out a small wooden box. "It's a good thing you slowed down the poison with the breathing technique or you would likely be a spider by this point."

"I heard Gramps' words… he kept telling me not to give up…" The blond said weakly.

"Oh, 'soumato', you mean?" She asked, her smile never wavering. "It is said that when people are about to die they search their memories to find a way to survive." She explained, taking out a syringe with a liquid from the box. "Well, I've never experienced that myself, though." She then took one of Zenitsu's arms, that had been shrunk due to the poison, and injected him.

"Alright, bring them down from there, make sure you're careful not to harm them." Zenitsu noticed some voices said from the ground and moved to see, noticing several people in a uniform similar to the demon corps but with their faces covered moving around and helping the others that were infected by the spider demon.

'I guess… I survived again…' That was Zenitsu's last thought before the tension left his body and he passed out.

* * *

'He is going to die at this rate.' Kaigaku thought as he continued to watch the exchange between Tanjiro and the strings demon. '…I might have a chance to go for his head if I just wait until he is about to give the finishing blow, I should be able to catch him by surprise that way.' He slowly, as to not make too much sound, moved a hand towards his sword and prepared.

'_If only I could use the first form-_'

'Shut up!' His face morphed into a snarl but he managed to get it back in control and focus. 'Now I just wait for my chance.'

* * *

'From the left!' Tanjiro ducked beneath a group of strings. 'Below!' He used his sword to block the hits and jump back, he immediately tried to rush forward but was forced to dodge to the side when more strings came from above him, all of them dancing to the rhythm of Rui's fingers.

"What's wrong?" The demon asked. "Why don't you say that again?" He taunted as he continued his attack, not even bothering to move from his initial location and just sending the strings to strike at his opponent.

Tanjiro stayed quiet, not having the time to actually answer, his mind focused on the fight; not that he would take those words back anyway.

In a way, it was his refusal to take back those words why he was still alive.

Despite his child-like appearance, Tanjiro is certain that Rui is the strongest demon he has fought so far, if the pressure he felt from earlier wasn't enough of an indication then the fact that he couldn't find any way to close the distance solidified that notion in his mind; while he wouldn't go down without a fight, if Rui wanted to, he could have completely surrounded the Kamado with his strings and cut him apart in one fell swoop; it was his anger at his words and wanting to make him suffer that was allowing Tanjiro to stay alive and try to find a way to win.

'Even so… I just can't close the distance.' The red haired teen's breath was starting to become shallow as he was forced to stay on the defensive without a way of retaliating. 'I can't cut those strings with a normal swing, I'll need to use a technique if I want to get past them.'

Taking advantage of a momentary pause in Rui's onslaught, the swordsman calmed his breath and focused.

'Here I go!' He dashed forward, sword at the ready.

"You really don't know when to give up." The white haired demon commented in a bored tone, sending more strings against him.

Tanjiro dodged the first two swings and jumped over a third one, his momentum sending him forwards to face a fourth string.

'First Form, Water Surface Slash!' Tanjiro focused on his sword and swung to cut the string.

_Snap_

'Eh?' Although what he saw caught him off guard, his training kicked in and allowed him to move his body to the side, gaining another wound on his face, this going above his nose bridge, but avoiding being cut in half had he continued moving forward in that direction. 'Damn it…' Tanjiro muttered from the ground, not able to land properly. His eyes then moved to his weapon. 'It broke!' He, of course, realized it when it happened with his earlier attack but that didn't make it any less of a shock now that he actually saw it without his instincts making him move.

Staggering slightly, Tanjiro managed to get back on his feet, Rui simply giving him a one-eye glare, clearly not done with torturing him just yet as his 'sister' looked on with a neutral expression.

'Urokodaki-san, Haganezuka-san, I'm sorry, my sword broke due to my inexperience.' The Kamado thought but was quickly brought of his head when the strings moved towards him once more.

'Later! Now is not the time for this, think! Think!' He focused on dodging the attacks, his weapon barely the size of a sword grip after being snapped. 'I can't cut the strings, then I have to close the distance and get his neck.' Taking a deep breath, he dashed forward as fast as possible but, like before, the strings got in his way forcing him to stop his rush.

'It's no good, I just can't close the distance.' He thought as he got his breathing under control once more.

"What's wrong? Aren't you coming?" The demon taunted. "Are you still not taking those words back?"

Tanjiro simply glared back, his mind racing to find a way to defeat him.

"Whatever, I'm tired of you; get cut into ribbons." Raising his right hand, several strings overlapping each other suddenly appeared in front of the swordsman, ready to tear him apart.

'Not good! I can't dodge!' The Kamado panicked, being caught off guard by the sudden attack as he saw the stings approach him. 'Wha-'

"Ngh!"

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro yelled, his sister having suddenly gotten out of her box and taken the hit for him, surprising all the onlookers.

Tanjiro held her sister before she fell and moved her towards a tree to let her down.

'These wounds…' The red haired teen grimaced, seeing his sister in pain, the blood all over her body and her right arm almost completely separated from the elbow down.

He quickly grabbed said arm and held it together.

"I'm sorry Nezuko, you had to protect your big brother like this." He said as he chanted in his head 'heal, please heal' while staring at her arm.

"That… is your sister…?"

"So what if she is!" Tanjiro yelled back towards Rui.

"Your sister… a demon… two siblings staying together even when one is human…" Rui began to mutter. "A true bond… I want it!"

"Wha-? Wait, please!" Rui's sister spoke for the first time since the fight began. "I'm your big sister, aren't I? Please don't abandon me!" She said, her face a mix of shock and panic.

"Shut up!" Rui lashed out, raising a hand and cutting her body with his strings. "You have also disappointed me… go kill the demon hunters in the mountain and then we'll talk."

"Alright, I understand." She said obediently, her body grabbing her severed head as she began to run away.

Once her steps couldn't be heard, Rui turned back to the Kamados.

"Come out, kid, let's talk." He said, his voice no longer holding a threatening edge, confusing Tanjiro. "I was very moved when I saw your sister, your sibling was turned into a demon and yet you two are still together… I don't think I have the words to correctly express this feeling." He began, a small smile that looked like that of a normal human boy. "Since you came here and threatened me, I have to kill you but there is one way that you can survive." Rui said, raising his right index finger for emphasis. "Give your sister to me, if you do then I'll let you leave these mountain."

"I don't understand what you're saying." That wasn't an exaggeration. For Tanjiro, the idea of even _considering _leaving Nezuko behind was so foreign that he genuinely couldn't understand what he just heard.

"I'm saying that your sister will become my sister from today onwards." Rui explained as if it was the most normal thing. "All you have to do is leave her here and leave, never to return."

Letting out a growl, and after moving Nezuko's, relatively, uninjured arm to hold her injured one, he put down the box in his back and walked out from behind the tree.

"Nezuko isn't a thing, she has her own feelings and will, she would never accept something like that!" The Kamado glared.

"Don't worry, I will forge our bonds, the bonds of fear; she will come around to being my sister soon enough."

"I will cut off your head before that happens!" Tanjiro declared, any fear or hesitation from the difference in their strength overshadowed by knowing what could happen if he loses here. 'I can't defeat him if I fight normally… I don't know how long I'll last but I don't have any other choice.' With that thought, he began to use Total Concentration Breathing, intending to use it non-stop for the rest of the fight.

.

"Don't worry, I will forge our bonds, the bonds of fear; she will come around to being my sister soon enough."

'This… demon…' Nezuko thought, as she held onto her arm for it to finish regenerating. 'No… I only have… one brother left…' Taking a deep breath she stared at her arm as if forcing it to finish healing. 'And no one… will break us apart!' With a growl of exertion, her arm finished reattaching and she got up from her spot to stand beside her brother. 'Never again!'

.

"Nezuko?" Tanjiro called out when the younger Kamado moved from behind the tree; she simply stood there, her eyes fixated on Rui and a few veins bulging around her head. "I see, you want to fight too, right?"

Giving one resolute nod, she prepared to dash forward.

Tanjiro smiled for a moment before doing the same.

"It seems you don't treasure your life… well, whatever." Rui said, clearly not afraid of facing the two at the same time as he moved a hand to his hair, revealing his hidden eye. "If you really think you can face a member of the Twelve Demon Moons and live, then bring it." The demon said with a demented grin, showing that his eye had the kanji for 5 engraved on it.

"Let's go!" Tanjiro said, not deterred in the slightest by that discovery; if anything, it added another reason why he has to defeat him.

"Nhn!"

With that, the two lunged forward.

Rui raised both hands and strings began to move to intercept them.

Tanjiro moved in front and used what remained of his weapon to block them, giving Nezuko a chance to close the distance; she jumped in the air and tried to hit Rui with a downwards kick, the demon simply jumping back, dodging it with ease, as the ground where he stood a moment ago shattered under Nezuko's strength.

Tanjiro quickly dashed forward, almost closing the distance between the two, when more strings appeared in front of him, halting his advance.

One of the strings almost managed to hit his arm from the side but Nezuko grabbed him from his haori and moved him back before it could.

Not wanting to give up the initiative, the Kamados lunged forward once more, this time moving in opposite directions to try and catch Rui in a pincer attack.

Against other demons that could have worked but not against this one.

Rui raised both hands, one towards each, and more strings lashed out to stop their advance; Tanjiro was forced to dodge and move back while Nezuko tried to power through them, counting on her regeneration to help her, but was eventually forced to relent as well when it was clear she would be cut in pieces before getting past the strings.

The three continued with their exchange, the Kamados trying to let Tanjiro get close so he could use what remains of his sword to cut Rui's head while the latter continued to easily, almost lazily, thwart every attempt.

'Damn it, this won't work, I can't get close like this.' Tanjiro thought as he dodged another group of strings. 'There has to be something, some way for me to get close.' He jumped back at the same time Nezuko did and the two landed next to each other. 'Something… _cough._' He began coughing, the backlash from using Total Concentration Breathing constantly beginning to take its toll. 'It's okay… I can still fight, take deep breaths.'

"Mhm." His sister's mumble brought him out of his thoughts, as she looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"Nezuko?"

"Mhm!" She nodded once, her eyes moving back to Rui as she took a step forward to begin the charge.

"…I see." The Kamado grimaced but took a deep breath nonetheless.

Without a word, the two lunged forward, Nezuko on the lead.

"How long are you going to continue with this futile attempt?" Rui asked, his strings already moving to intercept the two.

Tanjiro stepped forward and deflected the first wave. Then the two slid below the second one and Nezuko barely managed to move Tanjiro out of the way of the third one, getting graced in her left leg instead.

This wasn't anything new, they were doing the exact same thing they have been doing all this time, which is why when Rui sent another wave that _should_ have stopped and forced them to move back, he was genuinely surprised when Nezuko stepped forward between the strings and her brother, tanking the hit like when she revealed herself, blood splattering around.

'She let herself get hit?' Rui thought, the same feeling as before appearing in his chest.

"Ahhh!" Between Nezuko taking the hit and him being distracted, Tanjiro was able to quickly close the distance and move behind him, his sword poised to strike and moving towards Rui's neck.

_Clang_

'Wha-?!'

"Hey." Rui called out, unperturbed by the weapon that was currently touching the left side of his neck but not cutting through. "Tell me, did you think that my neck would be less resilient than my strings?" He asked, moving his head to glare at Tanjiro with the eye that has the number engraved.

Before the Kamado could answer, Rui turned around and kicked him in the stomach, sending him crashing against a tree.

"Damn it." He cursed, looking back at him. "What, where is Nezu-" His answer was cut short when blood suddenly fell from the sky, right on top of his sword; he looked up to see his sister entangled upside down in mid-air in Rui's strings, blood dripping from her body. "Nezuko!" He called out in shock.

"She seems to be a bit rebellious so maybe I'll let her stay there under the sun for a while but don't worry, she will come around to being my sister eventually." Rui said, clearly not interested in Tanjiro's reaction. "You just have to go and leave her here now; you realized it, didn't you? You can't cut my neck, there is no way for you to win. If you go now, then I'll let you live."

Nezuko tried to fight against the strings but with a sway of his hand Rui tightened their hold, the younger Kamado letting out a muffled scream before falling unconscious.

'She is asleep?' Rui wondered, slightly confused. 'She seems a bit different from us… well, I can think about it later.'

'…_sigh _calm down.' Despite the situation and the rage that made his blood boil, Tanjiro forced himself to take long and even breaths. 'Don't let yourself be guided by rage and do something reckless, it will only work in favor of your opponent.' Continuing with his breaths, he looked at Rui, his red eyes glaring as if wanting to make a hole in the demon. 'Focus, unleash the best possible Tenth Form that you can!' Taking one last deep breath, he lunged forward. 'Total Concentration!'

"You still don't understand that it's useless?" The white haired demon said in a bored tone, sending more strings.

'Water Breathing!' Tanjiro began to dodge and deflects the strings as he spun with each swing. 'Tenth Form!' When another string got in his way, the Kamado swung with as much strength as he could muster and cut it. 'The Dragon of Change!'

'The rotations increase the strength of his swing.' Rui's eyes widened slightly when his strings were cut, something that the swordsman hadn't been able to do until now. 'That could be a bit problematic.'

'I cut it, if it's with the Tenth Form then I can cut them, move, close the distance, get right on his face and cut his neck!' Tanjiro continued forward, the dragon's fangs cutting or deflecting the strings in his way as he continued rotating to increase the strength of his swing.

"Hey." Rui called out, his hands suddenly turning red above the wrist as well as the strings that came from the tip of his fingers. "Did you think I couldn't make stronger strings?" Just as he asked this, he moved both hands back. 'Blood Demon Art: Cutting Thread Cage.' At his command, several web shaped strings suddenly appeared in Tanjiro's way. "I'm tired of you, goodbye."

'I can't dodge.' The Kamado realized the moment the strings appeared, there were even more than when Nezuko saved him. 'I can't cut them either, their scent is different, I don't have enough rotations.' Fear began to invade his body as time seemed to slow down. 'I can't lose, I have to protect Nezuko! I can't, I'm gonna be killed… I'm gonna die.'

.

His mind began to look through his memories, from the earliest one to the most recent one, looking for _something_, anything, that could help him survive.

'Dad.' When he found one.

"_Tanjiro._" He heard his father's voice, an image, or more like a memory, of him sitting at the entrance of their home. "_Breath; learn to control your breathing and become the fire god._" The man that, saved for his sickly complexion, could easily be described as an adult looking Tanjiro with the same colored hair and eyes, and even a similar scar in his forehead, spoke.

A memory from long ago came to the surface, of when he was a young boy and Nezuko had just been born.

Since he was able to remember, his father had always performed a dance at the start of the year, his mother had explained that it was to avoid misfortunes and accidents by offering a dance to the fire god since their family works with fire.

He had been mesmerized ever since he first saw it, and that feeling had never gone away no matter how many times he saw the dance but one thing that always stood out to him was how his father was _able_ to dance in the first place.

Kamado Tanjuro had suffered from a fragile body and was sick more often than not so seeing him dance from sunrise to sunset while on the snow is something that had always puzzled the young Tanjiro.

"_There is a special way to breath._" He remembered his father say one time he asked as he patted his head. "_A way for you to not get tired no matter how much you move._"

"_A way to breath?_" His younger self asked.

"Yes, _if you manage to learn this way of breathing then you can also dance forever._" Tanjuro said.

Tanjiro trusted his father's words, and even learned the moves for the Dance of the Fire God from him so he could carry on the tradition, but he passed away before he could teach him how to use that special way of breathing; he still had time until New Year's so he thought he could learn it in time by just continuing to practice the moves.

Needless to say, that plan was destroyed when he came back home more than two years ago and saw most of his family dead.

"_Tanjiro._" The red haired teen's thoughts went back to his father's words. "_No matter what, you must pass this earrings and the dance to the next generation._"

.

"_Promise me._"

'Dance of the Fire God!' Tanjiro doesn't know what possessed him but after remembering that, his body seemed to move on his own, taking another deep breath he began to use the first step of his family's dance. 'Waltz!' The water dragon that was moving along his sword changed, its form distorting and morphing into bright red flames.

With the momentum he had from what would have been his last swing, he spun as he moved forward and slashed at the strings in his way, cutting them all.

'The strings!' This time Rui was completely caught by surprise, convinced that his strings couldn't be cut by the demon hunter, but he quickly recovered and sent more strings against him.

One of them grazed Tanjiro's shoulder and another one would have taken a chunk of his head had he not ducked in time, only grazing his scalp instead.

'Don't stop, keep running.' The Kamado told himself as he advanced, watching the strings to be prepared to dodge or cut them. 'If I stop now I'll take the backlash from changing from Water Breathing to Dance of the Fire God breathing; when that happens, I won't be able to move for a while.' Steeling his resolve, he continued forward, even as more strings appeared in his way. 'That's why, I have to finish him now! Run! I have to protect Nezuko!'

Letting out a wordless battle cry, Tanjiro jumped forward to quickly close the distance, the flames around his broken sword cutting through the strings that Rui continued to put in the way as he suddenly closed a distance that seemed impossible to, even when Nezuko's help.

'This guy…!' For the first time since the battle began, Rui actually felt like his life was in danger; jumping back, he sent more strings to stand in the red haired teen's way.

Tanjiro's body hurt.

'Forward!'

He was about to run out of breath.

'Forward!'

The muscles in his arms ached, he could hear his heart in his ears and blood continued to drop from his wounds.

'FORWARD!' Yet he couldn't feel any of it; no, it's not that he didn't feel it, it's that he couldn't afford to_ acknowledge _any of it, his mind was completely focused in only one thing, protect his sister, any other thing was completely erased in order to focus on that.

The distance between Tanjiro and Rui was now four steps.

Rui jumped back and sent strings in all directions towards him, Tanjiro jumped and spun in mid-air to cut them all, he felt his legs begin to cramp but pay it no heed.

Three steps.

The two landed and immediately more strings appeared, forming a wall between the two; he swung with all his might to get rid of it, his arms yelling in protest but he ignored it.

Two steps.

Rui continued to retreat, Tanjiro not allowing him to gain any more distance as he continued to lunge forward; another wave of strings was sent from Rui's fingers, they barely got the chance to close the distance when Tanjiro swung his sword and got rid of them all.

One step; and finally…

'There it is, the opening thread.' Tanjiro saw it, the image that announced his chance at a victory. 'I'll beat him here!' More strings appeared in his way, the Kamado feeling them dig into his skin as they made contact. 'Even if it means getting slashed with him!' Ignoring the strings, Tanjiro moved his flaming sword towards Rui's neck, completely forgoing any defense against the strings that could, and would, cut his body apart.

.

'So tired… I can't move…'

"_Nezuko. Nezuko._"

'Mom… is that you…?'

"_Wake up, Nezuko._"

'I'm sorry… I can't… I'm too tired…'

"_You have to help your brother, I'm sure you can do it now._" She felt her mother's hands on her face.

'Help… Onii-chan…'

"_Do your best._"

'I want to… mom… but my body… it won't answer me…' Nezuko thought, her body still limp.

"_Please, Nezuko._" She could hear her mother's tears as she kept talking.

.

"_Or your brother will die too._"

Nezuko's eyes snapped open, seeing Tanjiro and Rui about to cut each other.

'Do not… touch… my brother!' She extended her left palm towards them, feeling something happen with the blood that covered the strings holding her in the air, the same strings that Rui had moved to try and block Tanjiro's current attack. 'Blood Demon Art.' The blood began to change colors, from its normal red to a pinkish color. 'Exploding Blood!' Closing her fist, the blood suddenly combusted, exploding into flames that immediately burned and snapped the threads that were about to cut the older Kamado, yet the flames didn't do anything to him as he passed through them.

'Wha-?!' Rui's shock was quickly replaced by panic when he felt the black sword of his enemy making contact with his neck once more.

"The bond between Nezuko and I…" A few droplets from Nezuko's blood that had landed on Tanjiro's sword began to ignite. "Can't be severed…" Aiding the swordsman in his swing and accelerating it further. "By anyone!" With those words, Tanjiro _finally_ was able to sever the demon's head from his body, sending it flying through the air.

* * *

'I owe Ozaki-san _so_ much.' Genya thought as he ran through the forest.

He was still in the middle of giving first aid to the hunters he held back, his transformation already reversed, when Sabito and Makomo had appeared and asked what happened.

Genya was a bit fearful that Ozaki would say something, all the other had passed out or were dead, but she stayed quiet for the most part, only adding a comment to what Genya explained but not saying anything about Nezuko or his 'ability'.

The two demon hunters' expressions made it clear they thought something was strange with their story, especially since Genya's uniform was barely recognizable yet there didn't seem to be any wounds in his body, but moved forward after instructing them to wait for the Kakushi.

A group of them arrived not too long afterwards and Genya left Ozaki and the others in their care as he ran to help the others, one of the Kakushi giving him his jacket so he at least has some protection against demons.

'I really hope they give me a chance to explain when they wake up.' The Shinazugawa is fairly certain that at least Ozaki is willing to hear him and Tanjiro out but he can't say the same about the others that saw the Kamado's sister and his own transformation. 'I'll worry about that later, for now, I need to keep moving!' Stopping that train of thought, he quickened his pace to find the others.

* * *

'That was amazing…' That's the only thing Inosuke could think as he laid down face-up on the grass. 'That girl, she didn't get hit once, she just kept moving around, dodging everything before cutting that demon's neck with that weird technique.' The Hashibira replayed what he saw in his head, not that he saw much, the girl with the fox mask was almost too fast for his eyes to follow. 'Am I really… that weak?' He remembered how the girl frowned when he told her about fighting him so he can prove he is stronger.

She had moved forward and tripped him so he was in the ground, one of her hands on his shoulder as she looked down on him.

"I don't like it when injured people push themselves." Her eyes had a mix of sadness and rage at his words. "Learn your own limitations and how to assess the state of your body before saying such reckless things."

Inosuke hadn't been able to say anything in return, his entire skin tingling similarly to when the 'Father' Spider Demon had mutated.

"Stay here and rest." She ordered before turning around and disappearing in the same direction the man with the fox mask had gone.

'…I am weak.' That's the last thing he thought before falling into unconsciousness.

* * *

'Tch, dammit.' Kaigaku cursed as he ran through the forest. 'Where did that demon go?' After watching Tanjiro's sword snap, Kaigaku decided that he was better off facing that other demon, rationalizing that facing him when there could be other demons would be foolish, at best. 'And what the hell was that? Why did that idiot have a girl in that box?' He is not sure what he saw, something about the girl seemed weird and the way the Strings Demon seemed to lash out only increased his confusion but he decided to think about it later once the demons were dealt with.

So, when the girl demon was sent away, he circled around in order to catch up with her and kill her.

'She shouldn't be too far from here…'

"Is… okay…"

He heard a voice and he quickly moved in the direction, seeing a man, naked for some reason, and a young woman with a butterfly ornament and a haori that resembled a butterfly's wings.

Noticing the uniform under the woman's haori, he approached the two.

"Ara, I didn't think I would find another demon hunter here." The woman said with a smile.

"Who are you?" Kaigaku asked with a frown.

"I'm the Insect Pillar, Kocho Shinobu." She answered.

Kaigaku immediately erased the frown from his face.

"And who might you be?"

"I'm- I mean, my name is Kaigaku, I was chasing a demon that was moving in this direction."

"Oh, is that her by any chance?" Shinobu pointed to the side where the body of the demon laid still. "I already took care of her so you don't have to worry."

"…her head is still attached." The black haired swordsman pointed out.

"I used poison to kill her, her body will become ash when the sun comes up." The smile the Pillar had when saying this looked a bit out of place, considering her words. "In any case, are there any other demons around that you know about?"

"Ah, yes, actually, there is another one not too far from here." He answered.

"Great! Please take me there so I can take care of it." She requested before turning to the naked man. "Please go find the Kakushi so they can treat any wounds you have and give you new clothes."

"Ah… yes…" He answered, covering his body with his hands.

"Well then, lead the way."

Kaigaku nodded once before retracing his steps to where Tanjiro and the String Demon were fighting.

* * *

'I did it.' Tanjiro thought before falling to the ground, face down. 'I don't know why it worked… but the Dance of the Fire God saved me.' The Kamado tried to control his breathing but it continued to come shallow and erratic, his body forcing him to acknowledge all the pain it was suffering and making it impossible for him to get up.

_Thud_

He heard something fall to the ground and moved his eyes in that direction.

"Ne… zuko…" He said, noticing his sister lying face up on the ground. 'She's breathing… that's a relief.' The swordsman began to drag his body towards her. 'I still… have to help… Inosuke… and Kaigaku-san.'

The Kamado continued to drag himself towards Nezuko even as his body protested that he should stop moving.

When his nose caught a scent.

'Impossible…' He muttered.

"You bastard." Rui's voice was heard. "You really pissed me off now!"

The demon's body began to move, using the strings to lift his head and reattach it.

'Why? I cut off his head!' Tanjiro thought in fear, his body barely responding as it is.

"Did you think that you won for a moment? I used my own strings to cut my head before your sword could." He said, his face set in a scowl as he glared daggers at the red haired teen. "You really pissed me off now, enough playing around, I'm going to kill you!"

'Don't panic, focus on your breathing.' Tanjiro had blocked out the sound of the demon's voice. 'As long as you breathe properly, you can keep moving no matter how tired you are.' He tried to will his body to get up, not letting the threads that suddenly surrounded him like a cage and were moving closer break his concentration. 'Calm down, breathe so you can keep moving.' As much as he wanted to, the Kamado's body was well beyond its limit, between the fight, using Total Concentration Breathing constantly and switching Breath Styles, he simply didn't have the energy to move without resting for at least a few moments anymore.

He felt the threads getting closer, about to cut his entire body apart.

_Shing_

When someone came running and cut all of them at once.

'Who…?'

"Hey, Tanjiro."

"That voice… Sabito…?"

"You look like you've been through a lot." The Water Pillar said, standing between his sibling disciple and the demon. "Be proud, though, if you managed to enrage a member of the Twelve Moons as much as this one seems to be, then you must have given him quite the scare." He added, his eyes never looking away from the demon. "But we can talk about that later, just rest and leave the rest to me now."

The Kamado whispered a 'thank you' before moving towards his sister once more.

'And I just told him to rest… well, it's not like I can't understand him.' Sabito thought wryly.

"All of you…" Rui seethed in rage. "You keep popping up one after the other like pests, I'm **sick** of you!" More strings appeared in front of him and they converged together, constantly rotating and leaving just a small, coin size hole in the middle. "Cutting Thread Rotation."

'Water Breathing.' Sabito took a deep breath before adopting a stance, his right leg behind his left one and raised his sword to the side of his head parallel to the ground, with the edge upwards and the tip aimed at the demon. 'Twelfth Form.'

"Die!" The demon demanded, extending his arm forwards to send the rotating threads against the swordsman. "…eh?"

The threads were supposed to have moved where Sabito was and cut him in pieces, leaving nothing but chunks of flesh, so when all the threads were suddenly cut apart and the peach haired man appeared mere inches from his face, Rui wasn't able to understand what had happened.

He was only able to register the sword that severed his neck once he realized that his head had rolled off.

.

'What…?' Rui wondered, time appearing to slow down as the fact he was going to die began to catch up to him. 'How? What did he do? It was like he dashed forwards and my strings were all cut at the same time.' The white haired demon tried to understand the situation but once his head touched the ground and he looked at the Kamado siblings, that thought suddenly seemed unimportant.

'That's… a real bond…' He thought, unconsciously making his beheaded body move towards them. 'I wanted that… that's why I began my own family… since my human one was fake.'

'_…sorry…_'

A memory resurfaced in his mind, of before he was admitted into the Twelve Moons.

'_It's okay, Rui… I'll die with you and accompany you._'

'What? What is this?'

His human memories began to resurface, of how his body had been fragile, how his parents were worried when he once went out in the snow and collapsed after taking a few steps, of when Muzan turned him into a demon, of when he first killed a human and-

'_I'm sorry… that I couldn't give you… a stronger body… I'm sorry._'

'Ah, that's right.' Now that he was at death's door, he could finally understand and accept what happened. 'It's not that my parents didn't love me and that's why they tried to kill me.' He could remember seeing his father cry as he held a knife, ready to stab him in his sleep after he first ate a human. 'It wouldn't have worked even if he managed to, since I'm a demon, but… what I had back then.' Tears began to fall from his eyes. 'That was a real bond… and I severed it myself.' His body fell to the ground, almost next to the red haired teen and his sister.

Then, to Rui's surprise, the swordsman reached a hand and patted his back, as if he was trying to comfort him.

'So warm….' With his mind now clear, he could understand Tanjiro's words and how he was right, his forced bonds based on fear weren't real; every member of his family that didn't do as he said or made some sort of mistake, he punished.

He had lost count of how many 'siblings' he had gotten rid of and didn't even think twice about making 'father' go mad until he was little more than an animal that obeyed his commands, not to mention the times he had punished his 'mother'.

'No wonder they left me… fear can only go so far…' His head was almost done disappearing. 'I want to apologize… but I will never get the chance… my real parents, they went somewhere I can't reach them.'

"_That's not true._"

Suddenly, he was in another place, he couldn't describe it, he didn't feel ground beneath him or wind move or even saw anything around him but 'light', he was just 'somewhere', his head reattached to his body as he saw a man and a woman sitting in seiza in front of him.

"We're family." The man said. "We will always be together, even if it's in hell."

"Welcome back, Rui." The woman added with a smile.

Rui stared at the two, even more tears beginning to fall as his demonic features began to recede, his white hair turning black and his milky white skin adopting a normal human color as he ran towards the two.

"I'm sorry!" He yelled as the three hugged. "I'm sorry! It's all my fault! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The boy continued to say through his tears as the three began their journey.

.

"…I can't say I'm able to share your feelings on this, Tanjiro." Sabito said as he approached him while sheathing his sword, the red haired swordsman's hand still resting on the back of Rui's body as it continued to disappear. "But I can at least respect them." He added with a small smile.

"…Sabito… I'm sorry… could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, is it about your wounds?"

"No… in the pocket of my haori." He signaled to his left side with his eyes. "There is a small knife with a hollow grip, could you take it and stab his body… I can barely move right now… I promise I'll explain why later… please."

"…alright." The Water Pillar nodded, searching for the item and doing as told. "Here you go." He said as he put the knife back in the Kamado's pocket. "Hm?" Sabito raised his head and unsheathed his sword, blocking a slash.

"Ara?"

"Shinobu-san." The man grimaced as he saw his fellow Pillar land a few feet away after he deflected her attack.

"What is this, Sabito-san?" The Kocho asked, her smile not wavering. "Did you just protect a demon?"

"Tanjiro." Sabito spoke up. "Force yourself to move even if you can't, grab your sister and run."

Taking a few deep breaths, the Kamado did as told.

"I'm sorry, thank you." He said quickly as he began to escape.

"Shinobu-san." He called out. "I can explain."

"I'm sure you can, but you just let a demon escape, I can hear your story after I catch them and kill that demon."

The man grimaced before moving his mask from the side of his head and over his face.

"Won't you at least listen to me first?"

"After what I just saw? I think you and that boy might be under the influence of a Blood Demon Art." The girl with the butterfly ornament answered. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to treat any wounds you get once we help you."

'Damn it.' With a scowl, Sabito prepared to hold back his fellow Pillar. 'I hope Giyu or Makomo find you before anyone else, Tanjiro.'

* * *

'This is bad.' Tanjiro thought as he ran, having grabbed Nezuko's box as he escaped. 'What now? I will probably be dismissed from the corps… and everyone…' His mind went to the several people in the corps that have helped him or kept his secret. 'WHA-?!' When he suddenly felt something land on his back, making him fall and drop his sister.

'What was that? Just using Total Concentration Breathing to run was taking all of my focus so I couldn't sense anyone approaching!' He raised his eyes towards his sister when another figure, a girl with a white cape over a demon slayer uniform appeared. 'A slayer!'

The girl raised her blade, about to decapitate Nezuko.

'I won't let you!' Tanjiro forced his body to move once more, grabbing the girl from her cape and pulling, making her lose her footing and land on top of him.

"Run Nezuko! Run! Don't let them catch you! Hurry-!" His last sentence was cut short when he felt the heel of a boot make contact with the back of his head making it crash against the ground and breaking his jaw. 'Don't lose consciousness!'

Nezuko was running as she was told when the girl got up and began to pursue.

'Buy time! Even if it's just another second!' He got up, determined to get in the way of the girl when a sword suddenly appeared in front of him, making him jump back. 'Damn it!' The Kamado cursed as he tried to keep his breath steady to no avail.

"I never liked you… but to think you were protecting a demon."

'Kaigaku-san.' Tanjiro recognized him.

"I'll at least give you a quick death, consider it a mercy." Zenitsu's sibling disciple stated before dashing forward, his sword poised to strike down the red haired teen.

'The first step is Waltz, the second one is…' For the second time that night, Tanjiro's perception of time slowed down but, unlike before when his mind went through all of his memories, this time he forced it to focus on a particular set; the steps of his family's dance. 'Not that one, I can't do that one, not that one either.' He listed off as he remembered all the steps, the sword closing onto his neck with every passing moment. '…that one!'

Kaigaku was certain his sword would sever the lower ranked demon hunter's head in a few moments, between all the wounds he had sustained and the way he was breathing, there was little reason for him to worry.

So when his sword was mere inches from Tanjiro's neck and he suddenly disappeared from his sight, his confusion was understandable.

The black haired swordsman noticed a shadow and looked up, red eyes staring at him as Tanjiro reeled back and head-butted him.

'What…?' He passed out in confusion as Tanjiro landed.

'Quick, I have to-' The Kamado took one step before his body reminded him of the pain he was in and he immediately fell to the ground. 'My body… it won't move…' He tried to take a breath to keep forcing his body to respond but it was for naught, he was truly way past the point where he should be able to move, suddenly using one of the steps of the Dance of the Fire God didn't help at all.

"Tanjiro!"

"Gen… ya…"

"Shit! Are you alright?! Can you move?" The Shinazugawa asked as he knelt down beside him.

"Please… Nezuko…"

A rustle from behind distracted the black haired teen and he quickly turned around.

'Another demon hunter.' He gulped, seeing a woman with a fox mask and the uniform. 'Wait, it's alright, she doesn't know about his sister so-'

"Nezuko is in danger, right Tanjiro?"

Genya froze at those words.

"And you know about her." She directed her gaze to Genya.

"Y-yes…" He mumbled, unsure of what was about to happen.

"Then, please take him away from here." The woman said.

"Wait… Nezuko-"

"I'll protect her." She said without missing a beat. "You have my word, Tanjiro."

"Thank you… Makomo…" The red haired teen managed to say. "She went… that way…" It was a blessing that his hand was already in the direction his sister ran, because even moving a finger to point felt almost impossible.

"Can I trust you to get him out of here?" Makomo asked the teen with the scar on his face.

"Yes, leave it to me." Genya nodded. He wasn't sure why she knows about Tanjiro's sister but he is willing to wait to ask for an explanation.

"Then go." With that, Makomo began running.

"…I'll ask you what happened once we're safe, come on." Genya said as he moved Tanjiro to his back and began to run.

* * *

'She keeps dodging everything and doesn't attack.' Kanao thought as she chased after the demon with the bamboo on her mouth, who had shrunk her body until she was like a child, swinging her sword to try and cut her as she kept dodging. 'Why?' That question came to her head but she quickly dismissed it. 'There is no need to think, I'll just slay demons like I was told to do.' She moved faster to catch Nezuko, the sudden burst of speed catching the demon off guard, and her sword was about to connect with her neck.

_Clang_

When another sword got in the middle.

She raised her eyes and met the dark blue eyes of her fellow Tsuguko, Tomioka Giyu.

'Why is he protecting a demon?' She wondered.

"Giyu!" A new voice called out and she jumped back to stop the clash.

'That's one of master's friends.' Kanao recognized her.

"Take her away, I'll deal with this." Tomioka said, his eyes never leaving Kanao.

"Got it." Makomo nodded.

She said something to the demon that Kanao wasn't able to hear before the two began to run in the direction she came from.

'What's going on?' Kanao couldn't help but wonder. 'I'm ordered to slay demons but what do I do if another demon hunter protects them? Should I slay them too? Or wait until I receive new orders?' Without taking her eyes from the Water Pillar's Tsuguko, she moved one hand to her pocket and took out her coin, she threw it in the air and caught it in one hand before turning it over on top of her arm, since her hand was holding her sword.

Seeing the result, the girl with the side ponytail relaxed her stance slightly, making it clear that she wasn't going to fight but was ready to defend herself if Tomioka attacked.

Giyu stared at her for a moment before, without turning around, moving backwards, only stopping the staring contest once there was a large distance between the two.

* * *

Genya continued to run with Tanjiro on his back, trying to figure out what happened after they split up.

He can guess that Tanjiro fought a strong demon, considering the state he was in, and that someone likely saw his sister since that other demon hunter was trying to kill him but other than that, he couldn't really figure out what happened.

'Where am I supposed to take him? It's likely that the corps knows about him so I can't bring him to one of the Wisteria houses; maybe find a doctor in a nearby town and-' His thoughts were cut short when a woman with milky white skin and long pale hair appeared in front of him. 'Shit, of all the times to find a demon, why now?!' He cursed, crouching to leave the Kamado on the ground and prepare to fight.

"W-wait, please." The demon called out, her hands raised to show that she means no harm. "I-I'm not your enemy, I saw what happened and I want to help him." She said quickly, trying to look as least threatening as possible.

"Help?" Genya repeated, obviously confused. "Why would you want to help? Who are you anyway?"

"I… I'm a demon that was in this mountain… he spared me and told me that there was a way for me to live without eating humans." She answered, looking at the Kamado. "Please, he told me there was a place I should go for this a-and he needs treatment and… after what happened, the demon hunters probably won't help him."

'…that's true.' Genya admitted to himself but remained skeptic towards the demon woman.

"Why should I believe you?" He eventually asked.

"H-here." She moved a hand to her back. "W-wait! Please!" Immediately regretting the action as Genya tensed up again. "I-I am not trying to hurt you." Slowly, she took out a fox mask from behind her.

"That's…"

"It's his mask, he said that it was proof he sent me." The white haired woman explained.

"…what's his name?" Genya asked.

"Eh? Ah! It's Tanjiro! Kamado Tanjiro!" She quickly answered.

'She has Tanjiro's mask and knows his name… could she be telling the truth?' The Shinazugawa debated internally. 'But wait, she said she saw what happened to him, she could have heard his name and his mask fallen off during whatever fight he had-'

"Genya." Tanjiro called out, his voice barely above a whisper. "She's… telling the truth…" The Kamado managed.

"…alright then." He nodded before he felt the red haired teen going limp, finally passing out. 'Seriously, how were you still conscious before?' He snorted.

"U-umm…"

"He said you were good so I'll believe you, lead the way." Genya said.

"Y-yes, oh, b-but I'm not the one actually leading the way." She pointed down and to a cat.

"Whatever, let's just go." The Shinazugawa answered.

The demon nodded before turning around and following the cat, Genya quickly followed behind her.

* * *

**Phew, done.**

**This chapter was _hard_ to write.**

**As I mentioned in the beginning notes, I'll explain why the wait was longer than usual, feel free to skip this if you're not interested, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Ok, so… I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't have time (I literally have a _lot_ of time now, due to the quarantine), the main reasons why this chapter took longer than usual to be ready were.**

**First: The manga is finished and with everything that was happening around it I was too focused on it to get too much work in this done (I still wrote a bit from time to time)**

**Second: I got Persona 5 Royal and that took away a good chunk of my time; I would call this the main reason why it took longer than usual among the three.**

**Third: This chapter went through SEVERAL drafts before I found one I liked; this is a personal thing but I only post things once I can read it and say with confidence 'alright, I like how this ended up' and for this chapter in particular that was… difficult.**

**It's not that I didn't like the previous drafts, I did, really, but for this chapter in particular I felt like it wasn't enough. I started reading the manga before the anime reached Natagumo and I was quite literally blown away with episode 19 (as I'm sure most of us were), I won't go into a long speech about it but that part at the end was incredible, to say the least, so I wanted to do my best to convey at least a _part_ of it in this chapter.**

**I don't know if I can say I managed that, I'll leave that up to you to decide, but I didn't want to post this without at least being able to say 'I did the best I possibly could', hence the many drafts I mentioned before.**

**Well, I just wanted to explain the wait, I hope the chapter was worth it.**

**Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!**

**Until next time!**

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**PS: SPOILERS FOR THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE MANGA, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

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**TANKANA IS CANON PEOPLE, YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!**


	21. Meetings

**Meetings**

**Guest review answer corner.**

**.**

**Guest: Thank you! I'm glad to you like it!**

**Guest: Yep, and the complications are only starting, hehehe.**

**I think I will reveal it soon, maybe, who knows?**

**I am really enjoying writing Genya, since we got so little of him in the manga I have a lot of room to write him.**

**Thank you for the comment, until next time!**

**Zoya: Thank you for commenting even if it was hard since English isn't your first language; I hope you continue to enjoy it!**

**Willowgirlgamer: Wow… thank you! There is no need to fight haha; I appreciate the sentiment, though.**

**I hope you continue to enjoy the story, until next time!**

**.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba.**

* * *

"Is she still behind us?" Sabito asked while he, Makomo and Giyu ran; the Natagumo Mountain far behind them.

"I don't think so." Makomo answered, the box containing Nezuko inside firmly strapped to her back.

"She is probably keeping some distance." Giyu chimed in. "I don't think she wants to face the three of us at the same time."

"Yeah, probably." The peach haired man muttered. "I sent a crow already but I can't be sure if it will reach Oyakata-sama in time."

"We can only hope." The black haired swordswoman answered. "Are you sure you want to go to our home, though? They'll probably go look for us there."

"It's also the best place for Oyakata-sama to send a crow to." Sabito said back. "I know the risks but we don't have much of a choice in this situation."

"I'm so-"

"I swear Giyu, if you apologize one more time I am punching you!"

"And I'm kicking you." Sabito and Makomo said in turn.

The Tsuguko blinked twice in surprise before nodding with a small smile.

"In any case, let's pick up the pace; it'll be better if we are the first at our house."

With that, the three sped up.

* * *

It took them almost the entire morning to reach their house; thanks to their training and their job, they were all accustomed to spend the night up so they weren't too tired by the time they got there.

Sabito moved a hand to his fox mask and placed it over his face before opening the door to their home.

"Yo." Uzui Tengen greeted nonchalantly. "Welcome."

"Tengen." Sabito said with a nod. "What are you doing here?"

"Kocho sent a crow to every Pillar, I was the closest to this place so I rushed over." The Sound Pillar answered, both of his hands on the hilt of the swords on his back and his left leg behind the right one, ready to lunge forward. "I have to say, I didn't think you three would fall to a Blood Demon Art."

"We haven't." Giyu said, earning the taller man's attention.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked, his eyes closing slightly. "Because if you aren't, then you're knowingly aiding a demon, one I can hear in that box Makomo is carrying."

"We can explain." Makomo said, even as she shifted her stance to protect the box.

"…_sigh _look, I don't think you three would want to help a demon, not willingly anyway, but there is no way Kocho would lie about something like that and the fact that there is a demon in that box doesn't exactly help your case." He unsheathed his swords. "So let's make this simple, put that box down so I can flamboyantly cut off the demon's head and get you out of that Blood Demon Art."

"…Makomo, Giyu, go." Sabito spoke after a moment, unsheathing his own sword. "And be careful."

The two looked hesitant for a second but nodded and went away.

"We are not being controlled Tengen." Sabito said, preparing to clash. "But I can't let you kill her."

"I'll do my best to make sure you're not too wounded." The taller of the two answered. "But no promises."

The dual wielder stared for a moment longer before moving his sight to his right, then immediately lunged forward, trying to move past Sabito with that feint.

The peach haired man moved in the middle, his left palm stretched forward to stop him without slashing.

Tengen stopped and jumped backwards.

'Thought that wouldn't work.' He clicked his tongue before this time lunging forward, fully intending to immobilize Sabito.

The Water Pillar grabbed his weapon with both hands once again and blocked the cross slash from Tengen's twin blades.

Soon, the sound of steel clashing began to reverberate inside the house.

.

.

Giyu and Makomo ran around the house, looking to enter through the back door.

They had already discussed what to do in the case someone came to stop them and, if they can't talk it out, then they'll have to make time until a crow with Oyakata-sama's orders arrives.

The thought that said orders _might_ be the death of Nezuko did cross their minds but there wasn't much they could do if that were the case; right now, they could only trust the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps would agree to listen to them before passing judgement.

Giyu suddenly unsheathed his sword and moved to Makomo's left, blocking four kunai knifes.

"Tch, saw that coming huh." A female voice said from the top of one of the trees.

"S-sorry." Another one added, whether it was towards them or the other woman, Giyu and Makomo weren't sure.

The two then jumped down, landing without making a sound.

"Makio-san, Suma-san…" Makomo muttered.

"Oi Makomo, what is this we hear about you three helping a demon?" Makio, a woman with tied up black hair brown bangs framing her face, wearing a sleeveless striped dress asked, her face set in a frown.

"M-Makio-san, th-they are just being controlled, r-right?" The other woman, Suma, stuttered. She has shoulder length black hair that falls loosely and is wearing a similar dress to Makio, except hers is black with a lighter design around her cleavage.

"Makomo, go, I'll buy time here." Giyu called out, preparing his stance.

"…got it." The girl nodded after some hesitation before beginning to move again.

"Get back here!" Makio demanded, throwing a kunai her way, Giyu quickly intercepted it with his sword and Suma tried to use that moment to dash forward, only for the Tsuguko to grab her from the back of her dress and throw her back.

'I have to buy time while making sure I don't hurt them.' Giyu thought, seeing the two prepare more kunai knifes. 'This will be difficult.' Even as he thought that, his face remained impassive, his eyes trained on the two of them and waiting any movement.

"…what's with that look?" Makio said through gritted teeth. "You're pissing me off."

"Pl-please be careful, he is Sabito-san's Tsuguko." Suma stuttered fearfully, even as she held her weapon at the ready.

.

.

"…you can come out now." Makomo said once she reached the garden, placing down Nezuko's box at the porch and in the shade.

Almost instantly there was a rustle from the flowers and a woman with long black hair tied in a ponytail wearing a white dress, similar to the other two but with square patterns, appeared.

"It's been a while, Hinatsuru-san." Makomo greeted, one hand drifting towards her sword.

"It has, Makomo-san." She answered with a sad smile.

"Is there any way that we can avoid fighting?" The woman with the fox mask asked, almost pleadingly.

"If you let us kill that demon then there would be no need." She answered.

"…I was afraid you'd say that." Makomo muttered. "Sorry, I can't do that."

Without any other words, Hinatsuru took out two kunai knifes and held them in her hands.

Makomo unsheathed her sword and stood between her and Nezuko.

"We are not being controlled." She said, hoping to reason with the woman.

"If you aren't then why are you protecting a demon?"

"Th-"

Thinking she had an opening, Hinatsuru lunged forward when Makomo was about to answer, stopping her mid-sentence and forcing her to block with her sword.

.

.

Sabito knew that Tengen is not someone he could take lightly, despite his tendency to show off and say how he does things 'flamboyantly' when it comes to fighting he is someone to be wary of.

Add to the fact that his weapons are linked together by a chain at the hilts and he is able to swing with strength while only holding onto his weapon from the tip of the blade with two fingers and his reach far outmatches his, leaving Sabito with two choices.

First; try to push forward and keep the fight at close range, ensuring that he can't take advantage of the extra reach.

Second; fight defensively and keep his distance from the taller man.

Considering his objective, the second option _should_ be the best one, if it wasn't for the fact that Sabito knows the moment the Sound Pillar sees an opening he will most likely dash away from him and towards Nezuko.

That's the one good thing in this fight, while they are certainly not taking each other lightly neither is truly aiming to kill, or even injure, the other; in any other circumstances, this would be seen as a spar between fellow Pillars.

Each blow was met with one of equal strength or parried in order to start another exchange, the sounds of their blades resounding inside the house as they continued to move around, breaking furniture or damaging the walls with their battle.

"You really are flamboyant Sabito." Uzui called out even as they continued their exchange.

"Why, thank you." The peach haired man answered.

"I was honestly shocked to hear that a Blood Demon Art got the better of you but I guess everyone has their moments of weakness."

"I am not under the effect of a Blood Demon Art." He answered. "Not that I expect you to believe me."

"See? That's the thing, I _can't_ believe you." Uzui said before jumping back, momentarily ending their clash. "Because if that were true, then you knowingly aided a demon."

"And that's exactly what happened." Sabito answered calmly but not dropping his guard.

"…alright, let's say I believe you." The dual wielder began. "You do realize that goes against the Demon Slayer's code and, worst case scenario, you could be killed in that case?"

"I have been aware of that possibility for almost two years now." The Water Pillar answered.

"Two years?" Uzui repeated, his eyes widening slightly.

"The demon you are trying to kill is called Kamado Nezuko, she is they younger sister of a sibling disciple of mine called Tanjiro."

Sabito gave him a summary of what the Kamados went through and how Nezuko didn't attack humans and the 'test' he and Makomo put her through.

"…" Tengen stayed silent for a few moments before sighing. "Sabito… I am only going to chalk everything you just said to me as the demon's ability influencing you."

"It's not-"

"Then you are mad." He interrupted. "Every time we find a relative that says 'my family member would never kill anyone' they are immediately proven wrong."

"Yet she hasn't attacked anyone."

"According to you!" Tengen exclaimed as he lunged forward, beginning another clash of weapons. "Even if you truly believe that, how do you know that Kamado kid isn't lying? It's his sister, right? Do you think he would up and tell you if she killed anyone?"

"He would never have a chance!" Sabito answered, forcing away the dual blades as the two exchanged blows, each strike a lot more powerful than the ones from before. "If Nezuko were to ever kill a human then Tanjiro will kill her and then himself." Uzui was about to retort but Sabito continued. "Then Makomo, Giyu, Urokodaki-san and I would follow!"

Those words stunned the Sound Pillar for a moment, letting Sabito gain the upper hand and kick him away.

"…are you serious?" Tengen asked once he recovered his footing.

Sabito took off his mask and placed it on his hip, his expression telling the taller man everything he needed to know.

"You would risk your life for a demon? Are you out of your mind?"

"I am not."

"…why?" He asked, confusion clear in his expression. "What happened to you? The corps has been fighting demons for centuries and now you decide to help one?"

"Exactly, the corps has been around for centuries." Sabito began. "We have fought and fought and fought and fought and fought, yet I don't see us getting any closer to finish this battle, do you?"

Uzui recoiled as if he was struck at those words.

"Do not misunderstand me Tengen, I _despise_ demons and there are only a handful of things that would make me happier than to see each and every one of them disappear from this world." The Water Pillar paused for a moment, letting his words sink in. "But Nezuko is not a demon, she might have been turned and she might not really be a human but as long as she doesn't kill a person, I will _not_ think of her as a demon." His mind briefly flashed to when he tested her, seeing how she continued to dodge without retaliating and was even willing to lay down her life for her brother. "I don't know if something will come of this but a demon that doesn't eat humans is without a doubt a development; of what? I have no idea, but I will take the chance that it will be for the corps' benefit if it means getting any closer to finishing this long, long battle."

The Sound Pillar stared at him in silence, masking his inner turmoil with a neutral expression.

'…is he really under the influence of a Blood Demon Art?' He was certain that had to be the case when he got that report from Kocho but now… he wasn't so sure anymore.

The idea of a demon that doesn't eat humans seems ludicrous and yet…

"Sabito… are you really not being controlled?"

"I already answered that." The Water Pillar replied, preparing his stance. "I don't want to fight Tengen but the only way you're getting to her is through me."

"That won't be necessary." A third voice said calmly.

Making both swordsmen drop to one knee, any thoughts of fighting swept away from their minds.

"Oyakata-sama." They said in unison.

"Good morning, my apologies for dropping in like this but… well, what the crow Sabito sent me said made me think that I should be here in person." Ubuyashiki Kagaya said, his wife holding his hand to guide him. "But before anything else, I believe there are some people fighting here, could you tell them to stop?"

Tengen immediately brought two fingers to his mouth and whistled the sound traveling through the entire house.

Not a minute later, Hinatsuru, Makio and Suma, along with Giyu rushed in.

The four seemed about to ask what happened when they saw Kagaya and, like the two Pillars before, immediately dropped to one knee.

"Good morning." He greeted them.

"Oyakata-sama." The four answered.

"I believe there is a conversation we need to have but first…" He trailed off, turning to Amane who raised a box in her left hand. "It is almost lunch time, how about we eat together? Amane is a great cook."

The white haired woman smiled almost imperceptibly.

"Of course." Tengen answered, everyone else nodding in agreement.

The Sound Pillar then looked around and realized that they had pretty much destroyed the dining room with the earlier fight, the table included.

Giyu quickly got to work in moving the broken parts out while Hinatsuru, Makio and Suma went to search for some bowls at the kitchen.

"I'll go fetch Makomo." Sabito said before standing up, bowing once before turning around and towards the garden.

As he walked, he looked at Giyu and Uzui's three wives; it didn't look like they had any obvious wounds so it seems Oyakata-sama is arrival was well timed.

'I can't relax yet.' Even if the fight was over, the real problem will come later. 'I hope Makomo is okay.'

* * *

Hours later, far away from the Water Pillar's residence.

"Alright, the sun is down." Genya said from inside a cave they had found on the road. "Let's get moving."

"Y-yes." The white haired demon nodded.

Genya went inside and fetched the still unconscious Tanjiro, who was resting in an impromptu bed the demon had made by connecting her strings to the walls in the cave and then tie enough of them to handle his weight, and moved him to his back.

"U-um, I can carry him if you want…"

"No, I'm good." He answered after she trailed off. "Let's go."

"Alright…"

With that, they began walking again, the cat moving slightly ahead of them to guide the way, followed by Genya and the white haired demon behind them.

'Sh-should I try talking to him?' She wondered worriedly.

After their encounter and escape from Natagumo, the two had barely exchanged any words.

It was normal, all things considered; these might be extraordinary circumstances that caused a demon and a demon slayer to cooperate but it's not like they could simply speak to each other like nothing was weird.

'I-I, what can I even talk about to…? Oh, I guess I can start with that.' Nodding to herself, she spoke up.

"E-excuse me."

"Hmm?" He looked over his shoulder towards her.

"Could you tell me your name?"

"…oh, now that you mention it…" He trailed off, apparently realizing the same thing she did. "It's Shinazugawa Genya."

"N-nice to meet you, Shinazugawa-san."

He nodded before looking forward again.

"…"

"…"

"…hm, can you tell me your name?" Genya asked after an awkward silence.

"Oh, right, sorry! I… oh… I don't really remember."

"Huh?"

"I don't remember my human name, I've been referred to as 'Rui's mother' for so long that… I guess I forgot." She explained downcast.

"Well, I'm certainly not going to call you that." The swordsman muttered. "Is there any name you like? At least so I can use it for now?"

"Not… really." The white haired demon answered. "You can just call me whatever you want."

"Then… how about 'Ito'?" He looked back at her again. "Seems fitting."

"Ito…" She repeated with a thoughtful expression. "Yes, Ito is fine."

"Well… nice to meet you, Ito-san."

"Likewise, Shinazugawa-san."

"You can just call me Genya if you want."

"Then, Genya-san."

The two stayed in silence for a few seconds but Genya broke it before it got awkward.

"Is there anything you can tell me about this place we're going?"

"S-sorry, I only know that the cat is guiding us there and that Tanjiro-san's mask is supposed to be proof he sent us." Her gaze drifted to the unconscious red haired teen. "Although, I guess it's not really necessary in this case."

"Yeah, I guess." Genya agreed.

"C-can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why… why are you helping him?" The question made the black haired teen raise an eyebrow. "I mean… most demon hunters would kill any demon on sight so…"

"…how much do you know about his sister?"

"I learned a few things back in the forest thanks to my Blood Demon Art, she was turned but doesn't eat humans, right?"

"Yeah." Genya confirmed. "Well, we met over a month ago when we were sent to a mission together…"

The Shinazugawa explained the mission in that town that was being controlled by a demon and how he learned about Nezuko and how he was forced to use his 'ability' and the two agreed to keep each other's secrets.

"I see…"

"It sounds like you want to say something." Genya commented.

"W-well… I'm certainly not complaining but… it feels like there should be a leap between 'keeping each other's secrets' to 'helping him escape the demon hunters', accompanied by a demon no less."

"…let's just say that I can relate to him and leave it at that please." Genya requested with small smile. He had purposely left out what happened to his and Tanjiro's family from his story.

Knowing when not to push, Ito nodded in agreement.

Unfortunately, their conversation died down again although the silence didn't seem as awkward as before.

.

.

"Oh, I see a town." Genya thought out loud.

Ito moved forward to stand at his side and look at the town he mentioned.

It looked to be a small town, a few lights could be seen but most of it was dark.

"Is this where we have to go?" Ito asked the cat.

Chachamaru looked back at them and shook its head but began walking forward again.

The two exchanged a confused look before following once more.

.

They understood why the cat shook its head when they took a right on the path to the town but with no road made in that direction, walking through some foliage and eventually stopping once the town was so far that no human could see them with the darkness of the night.

"There… is nothing here." Ito finally spoke up.

Chachamaru had stopped in front of an empty area that looked just the same as everywhere around them, some grass and nothing but the town at the distance as far as the eye can see.

"What the…?" Genya trailed off, confused.

The cat simply walked forward a few feet.

"…eh?!" Then suddenly disappeared.

It's not that it vanished, it was almost like… something sort of 'swallowed' it.

The two stared for a few seconds before it suddenly clicked for Ito.

"I think… there is a Blood Demon Art in effect here." She said, moving forward with her arms extended.

Like she suspected, they suddenly disappeared after she passed a certain point.

Taking a deep breath, she took another step forward and completely entered the 'barrier'.

Suddenly, a house appeared in front of her; it looked like a simple home one could find in any town, albeit on the larger side, and it looked like it was recently fixed so it would be habitable with a fence surrounding the area, a door in said fence holding a paper with the same symbol Chachamaru carries on the paper on its neck.

'It really is a Blood Demon Art… then there are demons here.' It wasn't entirely surprising; after escaping Natagumo and having some time to think about who or what could know about a way to live as a demon without eating humans, a demon was one of the possibilities.

It didn't mean she wasn't surprised that such a demon existed in the first place but this all but confirmed it.

Shaking her head to get out of her stupor, she looked back and noticed Genya seemed to be panicking.

'Oh, he must not be able to see me.' Taking a step back, she moved her head through the invisible barrier.

"Wha-?!" The swordsman recoiled in surprise.

"I-It's a Blood Demon Art." Ito explained. "There is a house on the other side." With that, she stepped back inside the barrier, disappearing from Genya's sight.

The swordsman stared at the spot she disappeared for a few seconds before moving forward, the house appearing after passing the barrier.

"Well…" The teen muttered something before shaking his head. "Let's go."

"Yes."

Ito walked forward and opened the door on the fence so Genya could pass while carrying Tanjiro and closed it behind her once she passed.

"I-I wonder what kind of demons could be here." Ito wondered to try and fill the tense silence that had formed. "Hmm… are you alright?"

"I… am a member of the Demon Slayer Corps." Genya began, taking a deep breath to try and calm down. "I can't help but feel a bit anxious about meeting with a demon, even if they're not hostile."

The white haired woman considered his words for a moment; she was also nervous about meeting this demon but since she was also one she thought it was probably easier for her.

Before she could try and cheer him up, though.

"Who are you?!" The two looked forward and saw a boy with green hair glaring in their direction, his slit pupils showing that he is a demon.

"U-um…" The two fumbled with their words; luckily, the boy seemed to recognize the red haired teen on Genya's back.

"Is that Tanjiro?"

"Y-Yes." Ito nodded, taking out the Kamado's fox mask and showing it to him. "H-he told me there was a way for me to not eat humans and then your cat-"

"What happened to him?" The other demon interrupted. "No, more importantly…" His glare moved towards Genya. "You're not a demon."

"I… am a member of the Demon Slayer Corps." Genya revealed, not letting the glare sent his way intimidate him. "I was on a mission with Tanjiro and… well, it's a long story but he got hurt and I'm helping him."

The green haired demon continued to glare in his direction.

"Yushiro." A new voice, a woman's, called out from inside the house. "What's the problem?"

"Tamayo-sama, it's Tanjiro." He answered, although still not looking away from Genya. "But he is not alone."

The door opened and a woman with black hair and purple eyes, wearing a dark purple kimono with floral patterns walked out.

"He is hurt." Tamayo said the moment she saw the unconscious teen. "Please come inside."

"Wait, Tamayo-sama, the other human is-"

"He brought Tanjiro-san here, knowing where he was going, correct?" Unlike the boy, her gaze was kind as she addressed the black haired teen.

"Y-yeah." Genya nodded after a moment.

"Then there is no issue, please come inside." Her gaze then drifted to the white haired demon, making her pause for a moment before a small smile formed. "So soon?" She asked.

"E-excuse me?" Ito asked back, unsure of what she meant.

"No, it's nothing." Tamayo shook her head. "Did Tanjiro-san explain why you're here?"

"J-just that there is a way to live as a demon without eating humans… we didn't have much chance to talk apart from that." She answered.

"I see, I will give you the details later but for now, please come inside so I can treat Tanjiro-san's wounds." She looked back towards Genya. "Are you injured?"

"Eh? Ah… no, I'm good." The Shinazugawa answered.

"Then stop wasting time and come on in already!" Yushiro seethed, since they had stayed rooted in place even after Tamayo told them to come inside.

* * *

In Sabito, Makomo and Giyu's home.

Sabito was sitting in his room wearing a night robe and looking out the window at the moon.

"Something wrong?" Makomo asked, hugging him from behind and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Just… processing everything that happened." He answered with a sigh of relief.

* * *

_Flashback_

For a lunch where most of the people were fighting each other not an hour ago, it was surprisingly calm and enjoyable.

Kagaya wasn't kidding when he said that his wife is a great cook and his presence alone seemed to let everyone relax; the fights only been mentioned as a jab to tease one of the people involved at most.

But, as enjoyable as it might be, it eventually had to end and they had to get back to business.

Sabito explained everything to Oyakata-sama, Giyu chiming in to say how Nezuko protected Tanjiro from him back when they first met, and then saying how she slept for two years and the 'test' that Sabito and Makomo applied.

Throughout the entire story, Ubuyashiki Kagaya remained silent, his calming smile in place, only interrupting in case he had a question.

He eventually asked why the three decided to aid this demon to the extent they showed.

The three answered in turn, saying what Sabito told Tengen during their fight just with different words.

"I see." Kagaya said simply. "Well, I guess there is only one thing I can do now." Everyone else in the room waited for him to continue. "May I meet Nezuko-san?"

"Oyakata-sama?!" Uzui yelled without realizing.

"Calm down Tengen." He requested, not at all bothered by his outburst. "I can tell that Sabito, Makomo and Giyu believe that she is not a threat but I would like to meet her and judge this for myself."

"But… if she attacks you-"

"She won't." Giyu interrupted, earning the Sound Pillar's attention.

"…at least let me go with you, please." He asked, almost pleadingly.

"That's alright, as long as you don't attack her without reason then I see no problem." He turned to the three owners of the house. "Is that alright with you?"

The three nodded.

A short walk later and the entire group was inside a barely lit room, the window closed to avoid letting any sunlight in, and the only thing in the room being the box housing Nezuko.

"I'll open the box and call her out." Makomo said, approaching the box calmly.

Kagaya and Amane had both sat down a few feet in front of said box, Giyu and Sabito sitting behind and to his right while Tengen stood to his left, the three women behind him and the four of them ready to attack at the first sign of aggression.

The sound of the box opening seemed to echo in the silent room and Nezuko dragged herself forward until she was out of the box before growing to her normal size.

"Good afternoon." Kagaya said, his seemingly permanent calm smile still on his face.

Nezuko looked at him for a moment before looking around, her eyes moving from Uzui, to Hinatsuru, to Makio, to Suma, then to Amane before landing on Sabito and Giyu.

Her eyes widened in recognition and she waved at them, everyone being able to tell she was smiling even though she had her bamboo muzzle.

"It's been a while, Nezuko." Makomo greeted, earning her attention.

She smiled again and mumbled something unintelligible before looking around again.

She frowned and looked towards Makomo again.

"Are you wondering where your brother is?" She asked.

Nezuko nodded.

"I'm sorry, he is not here at the moment." The black haired woman answered sadly.

Nezuko's eyes widened and she lunged towards the door.

Sabito immediately got in the middle and stopped her from going out.

"Calm down, he is alright." The Water Pillar spoke calmly before kneeling to be at eye level with her. "I'm not sure where he is but he will come back; for now, you have to wait here, please."

Nezuko stared at Sabito for half a minute before nodding, looking slightly depressed.

"Tengen, please sheathe your swords." The blind man said, since the Sound Pillar had jumped into action and attempted to cut off Nezuko's head the moment she dashed, with Giyu currently blocking both of his swords with his own.

"My apologies." Uzui said after a moment, ending the clash and placing his swords on his back once again.

"No, I understand why you did that." Kagaya assured him before turning around to be face to face with Nezuko. "Nezuko-san, do you have a moment?"

The Kamado turned around, tilting her head when she got a good look at the leader of the corps.

"Amane, could you describe her to me?"

"She looks like a 14 year old girl, she has long black hair with orange colored tips and a pink ribbon near her fringe and is wearing a pink kimono; she also has a bamboo muzzle on her mouth." Amane answered.

"Thank you." He said towards her before moving his eyes towards her again, even though he couldn't see her. "My name is Ubuyashiki Kagaya." He began. "It's nice to meet you."

Nezuko stared for a moment longer before walking forward. Uzui tensed once more and moved a hand to his blades.

The Sound Pillar saw her stand right in front of Kagaya, every fiber of his being focused and ready to attack, when something unexpected happened.

Nezuko hugged him.

Everyone in the room seemed slightly taken aback at the action, even Kagaya's eyes widened slightly at the sudden action.

"U-um…" Sabito mumbled.

"N-Nezuko, you shouldn't do that out of the blue." Makomo managed to say, moving to try and get her off.

"It's alright." Oyakata-sama assured them, moving his right hand to her back and moving it up and down in a soothing motion. 'You must have truly been through a lot.'

Although she wasn't crying, Kagaya could tell that the dem-no, the _girl_ needed a moment; he may not know what she is seeing but he can tell that much.

.

'Dad…' Nezuko knows it's not really him, her father died even before she turned into a demon; the hypnosis may make her project her family members on other humans but she knows they're not really them. 'I miss you.' That doesn't mean remembering them doesn't hurt at least a little.

In Kagaya's case especially, she had immediately related the two; it's not that they're older men or the mark that tells her he is ill like Kamado Tanjuro was.

It was their presence.

Like her father, Kagaya has a calming presence, the type that one can't help but relax when they're with them.

She continued to hug him, not even paying attention to what the others were saying.

.

'…I can't believe it.' Uzui thought; his right hand still in the hilt of his blade, completely frozen from what he was seeing.

He had begun to think about it a bit more after what Sabito said before Oyakata-sama arrived, that maybe there really was a demon that wouldn't attack humans but actually seeing it was another thing entirely.

"Tengen-sama." Hinatsuru's voice shook him out of his thoughts. "I think that there is no need to be on your guard." She said with a smile.

He nodded after a moment, letting his arm fall to his side.

_End of Flashback._

* * *

After Nezuko calmed down and let go of Kagaya everyone left shortly after, the leader of the corps assuring Sabito and the others that he will order everyone to leave Nezuko alone and to tell him when her brother comes back.

"I'm still surprised Oyakata-sama walked all the way here." Sabito mentioned.

"It's like he said, what you told him was too important to simply send a crow or a letter." Makomo answered, still hugging him.

"He could have told us to bring her to him."

"I suppose, I'm certainly not complaining, though."

"Neither am I, just thinking out loud." The peach haired man said before moving his right hand to her right arm. "Does it hurt?" He asked, rubbing his thumb over a bandage.

"It's just a scratch." She assured him.

"A scratch from a former shinobi's weapon."

"I already got the antidote so I'm perfectly okay." Makomo smiled.

Sabito nodded, letting out another sigh.

"You worry too much sometimes, you know?"

"I'm not apologizing for worrying about you."

"I know." She kissed him on the cheek, right where his scar is. "It wasn't a complaint."

Sabito smiled, enjoying the comfortable silence.

"When do you think Tanjiro will come back?" He asked after a while.

"Knowing him, he would probably try to rush over here as soon as he wakes up." Makomo answered, a laugh in her voice. "But I can't tell for certain, he looked really injured when I found him in the forest and I don't really know anything about that other demon hunter other than his appearance and that he seemed to know about Nezuko."

"And his crow came back with us so we have no way of contacting him." The Water Pillar added. "I guess we can only wait."

"Yeah..." Makomo nodded.

The two stayed in silence for a while longer when Makomo suddenly kissed Sabito's cheek again.

"There is nothing else we can do for now; let's rest."

"…yeah, you're right." He nodded.

Makomo let go of him and the two walked back to their futon and lay down next to each other.

"Did I ever thank you for going along with this?" Sabito asked, locking gazes with Makomo.

"From what I recall, you didn't want to let me know about Nezuko but I pestered you until you broke." She answered with a giggle.

Instead of answering to that, Sabito moved closer and cupped her face with one hand.

"Thank you, Makomo." He said with a smile.

The black haired woman stopped laughing and reciprocated the smile.

"You're welcome." She said before snuggling closer.

Sabito moved her arms around her back and the two fell asleep in the other's embrace.

* * *

**And here is another one!**

**Something I want to mention: I wasn't the one who came up with the name 'Ito' for Spider Mom, the friend from Discord that loves her I mentioned a few chapters back is the one that came up with it.**

**Ito means 'string', I think it's really fitting for her, don't you think?**

**I think that's it.**

**As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to leave a comment.**

**Until next time!**


	22. Worries

**Worries**

**Guest review answer corner.**

**.**

**Guest: Thank you~**

**And yeah, if Tengen is going to show up there ready for a fight against three Breath Users, it only makes sense he would bring back-up; he is flamboyant not stupid, hahaha.**

**Had a bit of difficulty writing the Nezuko and Kagaya part… not even sure why, it just didn't click how I first wrote it so I had to redo it a few times; I like the result, though.**

**What can I say? I like SabiMako.**

**Oh trust me, Genya is not done getting some spotlight, not at all, hehehe.**

**Thank you for the wonderful comment and stay safe as well!**

**Until next time.**

**Guest: Glad to hear that! Like I answered above, I like SabiMako, hahaha.**

**Thank you for the comment!**

**Zoya: I can understand you so don't worry too much about it!**

**Glad to hear you like the SabiMako moment and Ito's name, like I told the friend that came up with it, it just fits.**

**Thanks for the comment, until next time!**

**.**

**Ok, chapter number 22 everyone!**

**I hope you enjoy it~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own KnY.**

* * *

Tanjiro slowly opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling and the feeling of a soft bed.

Taking a moment for his eyes to adjust he looked around as most as he could without moving his head; the room looked almost empty with only the bed he is resting on, a lamp and a desk being the only furniture. The Kamado also noticed that there weren't any windows.

'Where am I?'

"Ah!" A voice to his left said, making him turn. "You're awake!"

He saw the white haired demon woman he met back at the mountain; she immediately turned around and opened the door.

"E-excuse me! Tanjiro-san is awake!" She yelled into the hallway.

'This scent is…' The Kamado recognized the scent of the person that was approaching and smiled slightly.

Rui's 'mother' moved out of the way to let someone come in.

"Thank you, Ito-san." Tamayo said before her gaze moved to the red haired teen.

"Hello, Tamayo-san." Tanjiro greeted her, his voice raspy.

"Hello, Tanjiro-san." She greeted back with a smile. "How are you feeling?" The black haired woman asked as she approached and began to examine him.

"My whole body is sore." He answered. "And my jaw hurts."

"It's not surprising; your jaw was broken when you got here." She explained. "I already treated your injuries as best as I could so now you just have to rest and let your body heal; the demon you fought must have been really strong."

"Yes… wait, Nezuko!" He jumped to a sitting position, his body immediately protested and he grimaced but he forced himself to ignore the pain. "Nezuko, she is-"

"Relax." Tamayo interjected. "Genya-san has told us what happened, Yushiro already sent Chachamaru to look for her." She placed a hand on his shoulder and gently moved him back so he was lying down. "I'll tell you as soon as we know something."

"Alright…" Tanjiro agreed, looking reluctant but knowing he didn't have much of a choice, when he remembered something else. "Tamayo-san, where is my haori?"

"We left your things on that desk, there has only been a few hours since you got here so we haven't had the time to wash them."

"Please check the pockets of my haori, I got the blood of a Lower Moon."

Tamayo's eyes widened and, after a moment, she nodded.

"That explains the extent of your injuries." She thought out loud before moving to the haori and taking out the container. "Thank you, Tanjiro-san." The woman smiled.

"No, I should be thanking you." Tanjiro answered.

"You should rest; Ito-san, please call me if something happens."

"Y-yes." Ito nodded as she left, closing the door behind her.

…

"Your name is Ito-san then?" Tanjiro asked to break the silence. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you back in the mountain."

"N-no, that's alright... I didn't have that name back then anyway." She answered, earning a confused look from the Kamado.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't remember my human name but on the way here Genya-san-ah!" She stopped mid-sentence. "I almost forgot, he asked me to call him when you wake up, I'll be right back."

"Alright."

With that, Ito left the room to look for the other human.

A few minutes later, Tanjiro recognized their scents getting closer and heard their footsteps.

"Hi, Genya." The Kamado greeted him.

"You're a heavy sleeper, you know that?" The taller teen said with a grin.

Tanjiro chuckled as the two moved closer, grabbing two chairs and moving them next to his bed to sit down.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good, all things considered." He answered. "What happened after I passed out?"

"Well… not much really." Genya began. "We had to wait in a cave for the sun to go back down and then we arrived here. That Yushiro guy doesn't seem to like us, though; he scowls every time I see him."

"That's just Yushiro-san…" Tanjiro trailed off, remembering his first interactions with the green haired demon. "By the way… what are those clothes?"

"Ah, mine were a bit ragged so Yushiro lent me some." Genya explained, currently wearing a grey kimono top and pants that looked a size short. "He said he would get me clothes that fit me later and to 'make do with this for now'."

"And Ito-san?"

"This is Tamayo-san's." She answered, wearing a dark blue kimono, the sleeves long enough to cover her hands unless she holds them back. "I'm using my strings to keep it from touching the ground while I walk but Yushiro-san said he would also get something for me."

"I see." Tanjiro nodded before turning to Genya. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this."

"Ah… yeah, don't worry about it." The Shinazugawa answered with a shrug. "It was my choice to help you."

"Thank you." He said before looking at Ito. "Did Tamayo-san or Yushiro-san explain everything?"

"Yes, she also gave me the treatment so I only need some human blood to survive instead of… in any case, she explained to both of us that she is trying to find a cure for demons and how you met."

"I see…" Tanjiro trailed off, feeling his eyelids close.

"You should rest some more, you really took a beating." Genya mentioned.

"Yeah… I think I will…" He trailed off again. "Please… wake me up if you find anything about Nezuko."

He saw the two nod before falling asleep again.

.

.

"…"

"…"

"…so, I'm… just gonna go back to what I was doing." Genya said, breaking the awkward silence. "Thanks for letting me know he woke up."

"R-right, you're welcome." Ito nodded.

The two stayed silent for a second before Genya got up and left the room.

'…well, that was awkward.' He thought with a sigh as he walked away. 'I know this is the place Tanjiro sent Ito-san and I don't think Tamayo-san was lying about what she is doing but… guess I still need to get used to being around demons.' The black haired teen couldn't help but give a sardonic chuckle at that thought. 'If someone told me one day I would be thinking that, I would have punched them.'

Genya shook his head and walked up the stairs of the house's basement and into the room Tamayo and Yushiro had lent him.

It was a lot like Tanjiro's, with only a bed and a desk as furniture and a lamp lighting it, except this one had windows; considering the two house owners told him they act as doctors, he guessed this was a room to leave a patient if they ever have a need to.

Shaking his head, he plopped down on the bed, moved his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling.

'It's a good thing he woke up.' Genya thought idly. 'Now… what the hell am I supposed to do?' Even after spending an entire day and almost two nights awake, sleep continued to elude him because of that question.

What he did was without a doubt a violation of the Demon Slayer's code, so being dismissed from the Corps was very likely; heck, he was probably already dismissed or being chased, or both.

'Still, Tanjiro trusted that woman with the fox mask to protect Nezuko, there is probably something I don't know… I should have asked him earlier.' Shaking his head, he let that go, he can ask Tanjiro once he wakes up again.

Letting out another sigh, he began to think about another thing.

"A way to turn demons back into humans…" Genya muttered. 'Could my ability help?'

That was the second thing that has been keeping him up.

Genya will be the first to admit he doesn't know how his ability works, he doesn't even know how it is possible for him to turn into a 'half-demon', for lack of a better term, but every time he has turned, he goes back to being a human some time later.

He knows that the time depends on how much he has… consumed but, by his count, he never goes more than a few hours at most.

'It's a good thing Murata-san doesn't have Tanjiro's nose, there was no way I could have hidden from him until it wore off that one time.' The Shinazugawa thought idly. 'In any case… should I tell them?'

Regardless of whether or not his ability can help Tamayo to develop a medicine to turn demons into humans, the real problem was that he is not sure if he should tell her in the first place.

Yushiro's obvious dislike of him aside, there is no reason to suspect that he and Tamayo are tricking him or Tanjiro… but he can't simply say 'alright, I can trust a demon, no problem' like it's nothing.

Letting out a groan, he stretched and moved to lie on his side.

'I'll think about it later, I need sleep right now.'

It took him a long time before his body finally succumbed to sleep as his mind continued to wonder what to do.

* * *

Tanjiro wasn't sure what time it was by the time he woke up again but judging by the smell that made his stomach rumble, it was probably close to either lunch or dinner time.

Feeling at least well enough to walk, he got out of bed and, slowly, followed the scent, walking up the stairs of the basement and reaching the ground level.

Tamayo's new home looked a lot more traditional than the one where the Kamado first met her, with tatami floors and sliding doors, paper lamps and with only one floor, not counting the basement, instead of two.

The red haired teen looked out a window and noticed that it was dark, only the moon providing light.

'Dinner then.' Turning away from the window, he followed the scent of food to another sliding door and opened it.

Inside, he saw Tamayo and Ito with a tray of miso soup each; the former was taking it to a table in the middle of the room where Genya and Yushiro were sitting in seiza, the green haired demon glaring at the swordsman and him looking away, while Ito looked like she was walking towards the door before Tanjiro opened it.

Everyone froze for a second when they saw him until Yushiro spoke.

"Tanjiro? What are you doing up?"

"I woke up and smelled the food."

"I-I was going to bring it to you but…" Ito trailed off, looking back at the others in the room.

"Would you like to eat here?" Tamayo asked. "If you're able to walk then there shouldn't be any issues."

"I'd like that, thank you!" The Kamado answered with a smile.

Everyone moved back to the table and sat, with Genya on Tanjiro's right, Yushiro on Genya's, then Tamayo and finally Ito.

The two humans took the trays and said a quick 'itadakimasu' before digging in.

"Hm, it's delicious." Genya muttered.

"Thank you, it's been a long time since I cooked anything so I wasn't sure if I did it correctly." Tamayo answered, her lips curved in a smile.

'Tamayo-sama's smile is beautiful!' Yushiro thought, staring at her.

"U-umm…" Ito stuttered, earning the room's attention. "What… are you two going to do now?"

Tanjiro and Genya exchanged a look before the latter sighed.

"I'm honestly not sure, it's not like I can just go back to the corps like nothing happened." He looked at the Kamado. "It seems I wasn't the only one that knew about your sister, though."

"Yeah…" The red haired teen nodded. "Once I recover enough, I'll go back there, have you gotten any leads about where Nezuko might be?"

"Not yet, Chachamaru is still looking into it but there wasn't much to help track her in the first place, even with what this guy told us about another demon hunter helping you out." Yushiro answered, pointing at Genya for the last part.

"I've been meaning to ask about that, who was that woman with the fox mask?" The black haired teen asked.

"Oh, I never told you, did I?" Tanjiro thought out loud. "Her name is Makomo, she is… I'm not sure if they're married but she is with the current Water Pillar and a, skill wise, Pillar level Demon Slayer."

"What?!" Genya yelled. "Wh… why did she help us then?"

"That's a long story…" He trailed off. "After I met my master…"

Tanjiro told them everything; from his first encounter with Giyu, how he met Sabito and Makomo, how they helped him learn Total Concentration Breathing, the 'test' they gave to Nezuko and why they agreed to keep her existence a secret.

"I see." Tamayo said with closed eyes. "I… am honestly surprised; I didn't think there would be more demon hunters willing to give a demon a chance."

"Sabito told me that there wouldn't, I've just been fortunate enough that the ones to find out have been." The Kamado answered.

"Do you think… they would be open to help us collect more blood?" She asked, very softly.

"I… honestly don't know, I never got a chance to tell them about you and Yushiro-san… but I'm sure they would at least consider it."

"Excuse me." Ito raised her hand, once again earning everyone's attention. "I don't know the process to develop a cure but wouldn't it be a good idea to ask Genya-san for his help?"

Tanjiro and Genya immediately flinched at her words, while Tamayo and Yushiro looked at her in confusion.

'Oh, no…' Ito brought both hands to her mouth as if she had just uttered something despicable.

"What… do you mean?" Yushiro asked slowly, looking at Genya suspiciously.

"…did you tell her, Tanjiro?" The swordsman asked, his eyes not leaving Ito's frightened ones.

"I… didn't."

"…you were the demon that was making the other demon hunters kill each other, weren't you?"

The white haired demon visibly flinched and, very slowly, nodded her head.

Everyone stood silent at this, looking between Genya and Ito, waiting for anyone to do or say anything.

Eventually, the human grabbed his bowl with both hands, brought it to his lips and gulped the rest of the contents in one go.

"Thanks for the food." He said simply before getting up and quietly exiting the room.

Once his footsteps could no longer be heard, Yushiro turned to Tanjiro.

"What was that about? How can he help?"

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you." The Kamado answered.

"What?"

"It's up to Genya if he wants to tell you, not me."

"You-"

"Yushiro." He immediately shut up and sat down.

"I'm sorry." Ito whispered, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it, I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Tanjiro called out, making her look in his direction. "I know you didn't mean anything bad by it." He assured her with a smile.

Tanjiro did the same thing his friend did and finished the rest of his food.

"I'll go talk to him, thanks for the food."

With that, Tanjiro excused himself and walked after Genya.

.

.

Tanjiro followed the scent to what he can only assume is the room Genya is staying at and knocked on the door.

"Genya, it's Tanjiro." He called out. "Can we talk?"

"…come on in."

With his permission, the Kamado opened the door, walked in and closed it behind him.

Genya was sitting on his bed, his body facing the door but his head down.

"How do you do it?" He asked before the Kamado could talk.

Tanjiro was a bit surprised, he was ready to have to wait for a while before the Shinazugawa would talk to him.

"Do what?"

"How can you see demons as something more than an enemy to cut down?" Genya clarified. "And don't tell me it's because of your sister, I'll believe that it's part of the reason but you should know that she is a one in a million exception."

"But…" The Kamado trailed off, trying to find the right words to explain.

"You've been on missions, did any of the demons you encountered looked like they regretted their actions? Or smelled like they did, in your case?"

"I… can't say they have, there were a few that looked relieved after I cut them down but… they had their circumstances." Tanjiro answered, grabbing the chair on the desk and moving it to sit in front of Genya. "This is about Ito-san, right?"

"…I'm not an idiot, I saw her summon spiders, use strings and she said that she learned about your sister through her Blood Demon Art before we got here so I had my suspicions but… I just didn't want think about it at the time; there were other things to worry about." The black haired teen explained before letting out a sigh. "I don't think she is lying when she says she wants to turn over a new leaf but I can't forgive her for what happened just like that."

"I haven't forgiven her, Genya." Tanjiro spoke, making him look up curiously. "It's not my place to forgive her, all I did was offer her a chance; forgiveness is something she'll have to earn on her own."

"That's just it, I'm not like you; I want to believe in second chances, I am begging for a second one with my brother, but I'm not able to just look at a demon without immediately thinking of attacking it."

"…have you ever seen the moment when a demon turns?" The red haired teen asked.

"What?" Genya frowned. "I… haven't."

"I did." That made Genya's eyebrows shoot up. "I was sent to a mission on Asakusa when I caught a scent… the scent of the demon that killed my family... and turned Nezuko into a demon." The Kamado clenched his jaw, the anger making him numb to the pain that should appear from such an action. "And when I found him… he struck a man, he was just walking with his wife but I saw him nick his neck with its fingernails… then he turned."

'This… it's about when he met Tamayo-san.' Genya realized.

"He went feral and almost killed his wife… all because that demon used him to escape."

The Shinazugawa gulped, he didn't need a supernatural sense of smell to tell that Tanjiro was beyond enraged.

"I managed to stop him, Tamayo-san even made it so he just needs blood to survive." He continued, calming down slightly. "But that just cemented an idea I had in my head." Tanjiro looked back up with a sad look. "Demons aren't inherently evil; I'm certain that most of them never asked to be turned in the first place."

Genya stood still, his face going completely blank before taking a deep breath.

"So… you think it's okay to just give them a second chance and forget about the people they killed?" There was no judgement or anger in his tone, only curiosity.

"I'm not forgetting." Tanjiro shook his head. "And if they truly want that second chance, then they won't forget either."

"…"

"…"

"…I see." Genya finally spoke. "I need to gather my thoughts for a while."

"I understand." The Kamado got up, put the chair back in its place, and walked to the door. "Good night."

"Good night."

With that, Tanjiro left the room.

.

.

The Kamado walked back to the dining room, noticing that Ito was gone.

"How is Genya-san?" Tamayo asked.

"He said he needed to gather his thoughts." He answered. "And Ito-san?"

"She went to her room." Yushiro answered him.

"I see…" The red haired teen trailed off before turning to the brown haired woman. "Tamayo-san, how long do I have to rest before I can train again?"

"Hmm… considering the extent of your injuries, I'd give it three days before I can let you move around without worry; I used a few personal medicines to help your recovery but even those have a limit."

"Thank you." The Kamado said.

The three talked for a bit more before Tanjiro went to his room to rest.

.

.

'Hm?' The Kamado realized there was someone inside his room even before he opened the door.

"H-hi." Ito greeted him, not meeting his eyes.

"Hi, Ito-san!" Tanjiro greeted back. "Do you need anything?"

"N-no, not really, I just…" She trailed off, fidgeting in place. "I… wanted to ask how Genya-san is."

"We talked, he told me he needed to gather his thoughts."

"I-I see…"

"You could go talk to him if you want to know more."

"…"

"Ito-san?"

"I'm scared…" She said, hugging herself. "I… I killed many of your comrades and… I used their bodies to try and kill Genya-san… I'm scared that if I go to him he'll cut off my head…" Her fidgeting turned to trembling.

"He won't do that." Tanjiro said calmly, taking a few steps closer. "He was upset and… I can't say if he will look past what you did… but I'm sure he wants you to have this second chance."

"How can you tell?"

"Because he said so!" The Kamado said happily, making Ito look up at him. "He is upset about what happened and said he has a hard time thinking of demons as anything but enemies but… I told him what I saw happens when someone first turns into a demon and I think that got through to him." He offered her another smile. "At the very least, I can assure you that he won't attack you."

Ito still looked frightened but her trembling had stopped.

"I-if you say so…" She trailed off. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." The Kamado said before stifling a yawn.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I'll let you go to sleep." Ito said, moving to leave the room.

"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Tomioka Giyu finds days off boring.

Ever since surviving the Final Selection because of Sabito's help, he has devoted himself to accomplishing his missions for the corps; in his mind, that was the least he could do to repay his friend for almost getting him killed.

Even during his days off, he would use the time to train as much as he could, and he wanted to do that now, but a wound he got on his shoulder made it difficult so he had given up on it… after Makomo threatened to tie him to the bed if he didn't took the time to heal.

So, without a mission and not being able to train, he didn't have anything to do. Sabito and Makomo had both gone out and, even if he wanted to try to talk with Nezuko, she was sleeping.

He had lunch a few hours ago and was currently drinking some tea he made. Giyu was considering going to his room and sleep the rest of the day away when someone suddenly knocked on the door.

'Who could it be?' He wondered before going to the door and opening it.

"Ara~, good afternoon Tomioka-san." Shinobu greeted him; her ever-present smile on her face.

"Kocho." He said back. "What are you doing here?"

"Aren't you going to invite me to come in before asking that?" She asked.

Giyu took a moment to consider it before moving to let her enter.

"What are you doing here?" He repeated after closing the door.

"You are keeping that demon in here, right?"

The black haired man's eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

"Oyakata-sama ordered to leave her alone."

"Oh don't worry; I'm not here to attack her." Shinobu said, but her expression had yet to change at all since she greeted him. "I just wanted to meet this demon that won't attack humans."

Tomioka stared at her for a few seconds before.

"She is asleep right now; she'll probably wake up at night." He informed her.

"Oh, I see, I guess that makes sense since she is still a demon after all." The Kocho brought her left index to her chin.

"You can come back later if you want."

"The sun will go down soon, by the time I get back to my home I would just have to turn back around, don't you think?" She answered him. "Do you mind if I wait here? I'll make sure not to be a bother~"

"…alright." Giyu nodded, walking to the living room with the girl following.

"Where are Sabito-san and Makomo-san?"

"They had to go on a mission."

"So you have the house to yourself?"

"Yes."

"What were you gonna do before I showed up?"

"Sleep."

"…sleep?"

"Yes, sleep."

"…you're a really boring person, aren't you, Tomioka-san?"

Giyu decided to ignore that comment.

"I would train but I'm recovering from an injury." He said back.

"And your only other option is to go to sleep?"

He kept silent, walked into the living room and went to the kitchen to grab an extra cup of tea while Shinobu sat at the table.

"Here." Giyu offered after filling it.

"Thank you." She took the cup and brought it to her lips. "You can still go to sleep if you want, I don't mind."

"I'm good." Giyu responded, taking his cup with his left hand.

"Is that so?"

The two stayed silent for a while, only the sound of drinking tea being heard.

"So, the letter Oyakata-sama sent everyone said that you were the one to first encounter this demon."

"That's right."

"Would you tell me about it?"

Giyu looked at her.

"Didn't the letter explain?"

"Yes, but I would like to hear it from you."

He poured some more tea for both of them.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The Tsuguko didn't answer. "I want to know why the Tomioka-san that has always denied that we can get along with demons decided to spare one; surely you can understand why I would be curious about such a thing."

"…it was around two years ago." Giyu began. "There were reports of demons in a town and I was sent there to investigate; I learned that, aside from the people in town, there was a family that sells charcoal living up the mountain, alone."

"Sounds like the perfect target for a demon." Shinbou commented, taking a sip of her tea.

"I rushed there hoping they would be alright when I saw them."

"The family?"

"No, Tanjiro and Nezuko." The blue eyed man answered. "The latter looked to be attacking the former, I could tell she was a demon the moment I saw her so I lunged to cut off her head; Tanjiro moved her out of the way and covered her."

"Did he now? Even though she was trying to eat him?"

"He claimed that she would never hurt another person, even after that." The Tomioka answered. "I didn't believe him of course."

"So how come you didn't just cut off her head right there and then?"

"…"

"Tomioka-san?"

"I wanted to make him move."

Shinobu tilted her head in confusion.

"It looked like he was still in shock about his family, he kept saying that he would find a way to turn her back into a human… at the end, he kneeled and begged me not to kill his sister." Giyu took another sip of his tea. "I told him, more like yelled, that the weak don't have a choice but to be crushed by the strong and that, even if there was a way to turn her back into a human, a demon wouldn't listen to his request before stabbing Nezuko in the shoulder."

"That is rather… insensitive."

"It worked."

"Oh?"

"He got up, grabbed an axe he brought with him and threw a rock at me; he moved to some trees and used them to hide that he had thrown his axe in the air after throwing another rock, then hid his arms behind his body as he rushed at me."

Shinobu's eyes widened at this.

"I knocked him down with the hilt of my blade and then noticed he didn't have his axe with him, I heard something from above and moved my head out of the way just before the axe came down right where it used to be."

"He managed to catch you off guard?"

Giyu nodded.

"Nezuko took advantage of my shock and kicked me away, I thought she would lunge towards Tanjiro and eat him."

"But she didn't."

"But she didn't." He confirmed. "She then tried to attack me but… it was strange, it didn't look like she was trying to eat me but to make sure I don't get close to her brother…"

"And then you decided to let her live."

"Yeah." He moved to pour some more tea but realized that the pot was empty. "I knocked her out and waited for Tanjiro to wake up, then told him to go to Urokodaki-san and left."

"Just like that?"

"There was nothing else for me to do there."

The Kocho shook her head at that.

"I told Sabito what happened, who then told Makomo; the rest should be explained on that letter."

"About that, you didn't go to see the two in those two years?"

"I didn't."

"…Tomioka-san."

"Hmm?"

"This is why everyone hates you."

"I am not hated."

"You left a kid, with his turned to demon sister, with only instructions of where to go and then didn't see them again for two years." Shinobu said, her ever-present smile on her face. "Are you certain they don't hate you~?"

Giyu flinched at that.

"Even so, not _everyone _hates me." Tomioka answered.

"I guess that's true, Sabito-san and Makomo-san don't hate you." She conceded.

'Do you?' Giyu bit his tongue before that thought came out. "Do you want more tea?" He asked instead. "I'll have to make some more so it might take a bit."

"I'm good, don't worry about it." She answered before letting out a giggle.

"What is it?"

"You said you 'yelled'?"

The blue eyed man nodded.

"I find that hard to imagine, whenever I see you, it always looks like you're trying to make the least amount of noise possible."

"…I just don't have a reason to raise my voice."

"Is that so~?" Her smile seemed to widen slightly. "Then, would you raise your voice if I give you a reason?"

Giyu squinted at that question, trying to think of an answer.

"I suppose." He settled for that.

"I'll have to keep it in mind." She let out another giggle.

Giyu almost smiled at the sound.

'This one doesn't sound fake.' He thought before getting up. "I want some more tea, are you sure you don't want more?"

"Hmm~ Well, if you're making it anyway, I'll take you up on that offer."

.

.

A few hours later the sun finally disappeared giving way to the night.

Giyu lead Shinobu to the room they were keeping Nezuko and quietly opened the door.

She was resting on a futon, the covers up to her neck and her eyes closed.

"Looks like she is still sleeping." The Tsuguko whispered.

Shinobu looked around him and caught sight of her.

"Is she gonna wake up soon?" She asked, also whispering.

"She doesn't wake up at all sometimes."

"…Tomioka-san?"

"Hm?"

"Couldn't you have told me that before I waited three hours here?" The Kocho was still smiling but it was obviously strained.

"I wasn't sure if she would wake up or not and thought you would wait even if I told you."

"…" The insect Pillar stared at him for a few seconds before sighing. "Do you think she will wake up?"

"…I don't know." Giyu answered honestly. "The nights she wakes up, she is usually up by this hour but I can't be certain."

"Oh, well." Shinobu shrugged and turned around. "It's late so I guess I can come back another day."

The swordsman silently closed the door and moved to follow her, eventually reaching the doorway.

"Well, give my regards to Sabito-san and Makomo-san." The purple eyed woman said as she put on her sandals.

Giyu nodded with an 'hn'.

"Until we meet again, Tomioka-san." She spoke, leaving the Water Pillar's residence.

"Until we meet again." Giyu whispered after she closed the door.

* * *

After walking for ten minutes, Shinobu allowed her smile to fall from her face and let out a heavy sigh.

'I suppose I should have thought about this more before coming here.' The Pillar thought as she continued walking to her home. 'Nee-san… I am not as kind as you were, thinking that humans and demons can get along is not something that I ever truly believed but…' Her mind went to the sleeping girl. 'I can't help but wonder if your dream wasn't so impossible after all.'

Letting out another sigh, the Insect Pillar schooled her features back into a smile.

'Well… at least the tea was delicious.'

* * *

**Here is another one!**

**So, how long do you think it will take for Tanjiro to go back to Nezuko? Will Chachamaru be able to find her? What will happen between Genya and Ito?**

**And, probably the most important question of all, why am I asking you? I'm supposed to be the author! Hahaha.**

**Alright, (bad) jokes aside; this was mostly to wrap up the last loose ends from the Natagumo arc and start the next arc the right way, as well as some interactions between characters.**

**More canon divergences are approaching!**

**Plus, we're getting closer to Tanjiro and Kanao properly meeting and, if you've read any of my other stories for KnY, you'll know I love that pairing with a passion.**

**I can't wait!**

**In any case, as always, I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to leave a comment; it makes me smile every time I see a new one~.**

**Until next time!**


	23. Reunited

**Reunited**

**Guest review answer corner!**

**.**

**Karohappy: De hecho, Español es mi primer idioma así que lo entiendo perfectamente. Muchas gracias por el comentario, me alegro que mi versión te guste tanto.**

**Hay varios personajes con los que me habría gustado ver mas interacciones así que voy a aprovechar en esta historia, jaja.**

**Hare lo mejor que pueda para que la espera valga la pena.**

**Muchas gracias por el comentario, siempre me saca una sonrisa leer comentarios como los tuyos.**

**¡Nos leemos!**

**Angel: Alright, you have my permission; I just ask that you give credit.**

**.**

**Here is another one**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba.**

* * *

It was a beautiful day outside, the sun was shining brightly but didn't feel oppressive and a cool breeze blew; yet, while Tanjiro will admit that it is indeed a beautiful day, he wasn't really paying attention to it.

'Focus, make sure to maintain your Total Concentration Breathing.' That was the one thought that went through the Kamado is mind as he ran laps outside Tamayo's home, although still inside the barrier.

A week has passed since he arrived at the place and, as soon as Tamayo gave the ok, he had begun training in earnest to finally master the use of Total Concentration Breathing constantly.

Sadly, there wasn't much he could do but run, do sit-ups or push-ups, or other such activities; the surroundings of the house were mostly open field after all.

'Alright, ten more laps and-'

"Tanjiro!" He heard Yushiro call out from the basement of the house. "I think I found Nezuko!"

Any thought of training was immediately erased from his mind as the red haired teen dashed inside and moved to the entrance of the basement.

"Really?!" He yelled as he ran down the stairs, three steps at a time. "Where is she?!"

"Calm down." The demon answered, taking a step back. "I can see what Chachamaru sees through the talisman I gave her, there is a house where I saw your sister."

"Where?"

"I said calm down, Chachamaru is coming back now to guide you there." He answered.

"I see…" The red haired teen let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, Yushiro-san!"

"It's fine." He brushed off the thanks. "Chachamaru should arrive late at night so just let her rest till morning before going."

"Alright." Tanjiro nodded, before suddenly bowing. "Truly, thank you!"

"S-stop that, I just want you to go so I can be alone with Tamayo-sama." Yushiro answered while looking away.

The Kamado simply smiled before saying he'll continue training until it's time to go.

'Nezuko… just wait a bit longer.'

.

A few hours later.

Tanjiro is still training, the relief of knowing where his sister is lifting a weight off his shoulders.

"Hey, Tanjiro." He turned to the source of the voice and saw Genya carrying several bags. "I see you're still at it."

"Yes! Oh, let me help you, Genya." The Kamado offered, walking to him and grabbing half the bags.

"Thanks." Genya said as the two walked to the house to leave the bags.

Since the Shinazugawa can move during the day and he shouldn't be as known as Tanjiro, Tamayo had asked him to buy certain things to stores that aren't open during the night.

He had gotten a change of clothes, no longer using Yushiro's, but instead a pair of black pants with a black dress shirt and a dark purple haori.

"Oh, Genya."

"Yes?"

"Yushiro-san found Nezuko, I'll be leaving tomorrow." Tanjiro informed him.

"…I see…" He trailed off with an uneasy expression.

"What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing just… well, now that we're going back, I'm kind of nervous about what will happen." Genya admitted.

"Yeah…" The red haired teen nodded with a frown. "You… can stay here if you want and come back later?" He offered.

"No, it would be worse if I do that." The taller teen shook his head. "Besides, you saying 'I know where the demon hunter that helped me is but I'm not gonna tell you' will probably work against you when you try to explain things."

"That is true." Tanjiro conceded with a chuckle.

"…there is something that I want to do before leaving here, though."

"Hmm?"

"Don't worry, just thinking out loud." Genya shook his head.

"Alright…"

The two entered the house, walked down to the basement and went inside Tamayo's research room.

"Welcome back." She greeted them, barely looking up from what she was writing.

"W-welcome." Ito greeted as well, sitting in front of Yushiro, the green haired demon holding a syringe with blood on it.

"I'm back; where do we put this?" Genya asked.

"Over there, please; I'll sort everything out later." She answered, pointing to a corner of the room, before going back to her work.

"…Tamayo-san." The Shinazugawa called out. "I… am not entirely certain… but I think I might be able to help your research."

The woman stopped writing and raised her head to look at him; taking a deep breath, she put down her pen and turned to face him fully.

"I'm listening."

"…it's better if I just show you." He replied.

"H-hmm…" Ito mumbled, earning the others' attention. "You need blood, right? You can use mine… if that's okay…"

"Thanks." Genya nodded, walking towards her.

Once he was standing in front of her, the Shinazugawa put his hands together as if they were a cup; Ito stood up, used her finger to cut her palm open and then squeezed on it.

Yushiro stared at them with a frown while Tamayo simply waited.

The demon hunter took a deep breath before gulping down the blood; the other two demons' eyes widening at the action.

Not a second after he finished drinking it, he turned towards them, showing how his features had changed.

"That's…" Tamayo trailed off, her eyes wide.

"I don't know why… but I can acquire demon-like traits by drinking their blood or eating their flesh." Genya said. "I always go back to normal afterwards … I'm not sure if this can help but…" He trailed off, not sure of what else to say.

"…may I examine you?" Tamayo asked after taking a moment to recover from the surprise.

Genya nodded and sat down on the chair Ito was previously occupying.

"How long does this…"

"Transformation?" Tanjiro offered.

"As good a term as any." The other human shrugged.

"How long does it last?"

"Depends on how much I… consumed." Genya answered. "I haven't really counted but… I'd say the most that it has lasted was around three hours or so… I had eaten a lot that time, though." He averted his gaze with a frown.

"…are there any side-effects?" Tamayo asked, checking his eyes.

"None as far as I can tell."

"How many demon qualities do you possess while in this state?"

"Enhanced strength and regeneration… I haven't tested decapitation, either by Nichirin or otherwise, but I can even reattach my limbs if they are cut off."

"How about a Blood Demon Art?" Yushiro chimed in.

"I… don't know if I could develop one." The Shinazugawa frowned. "I never thought about it."

"…may I test your regeneration?" Tamayo asked, a bit hesitant. "Just a cut in your arm to check how long it takes to heal, nothing dangerous."

"Go ahead." He rolled up the sleeve of his right arm.

Yushiro passed her a scalpel and, looking up for a final confirmation, to which he nodded, Tamayo made a cut on Genya's arm.

A bit of blood came out but, a few seconds later, the wound stitched itself, not even leaving a scar.

"…" Tamayo stared at the place where the wound was in silence. "Are you certain that you will go back to normal after some time?"

"Yes." Genya assured her. "Not sure how long but I always go back to normal."

"Hey." Yushiro called out. "Can you stand under the sun while you're like that?"

"I… haven't tried." The Shinazugawa answered. "…no time like the present, I guess." He shrugged before getting up and walking out.

Tanjiro followed him as he went up the stairs and stopped just before the entrance of the house.

"Be careful, you probably don't want to just step out." The Kamado suggested.

"Yeah, good point." Gulping before taking a deep breath, Genya extended his right arm, stopping just before the sun would touch his fingers. "Here goes nothing." He muttered before moving his hand forward. "Gh!" And immediately pulled it back.

"Are you alright?!"

"Yeah, it just burns." He answered, holding his injured fingers. "It should heal in a bit."

Just as he said, the burn healed in under a minute.

"Alright, I can't be under the sun while transformed, noted."

"It's a good thing you checked now, though." Tanjiro commented.

"Yeah, better than finding out while I'm outside and with nowhere to hide." He nodded. "Let's go back."

.

"So?" Yushiro asked the moment Tanjiro and Genya opened the door.

"I tried putting my hand under the sun, it burned." The taller of the two answered. "I guess it's safe to say I am like a demon, with both their strengths and weaknesses, while transformed."

"H-hmm…" Ito raised her hand, making the others look at her. "Wh-what about decapitation; not by a Nichirin blade but… if your head was cut off."

The Shinazugawa brought a hand to his neck and rubbed it.

"I'd rather not test that." He said, gulping.

"R-right, sorry!" The white haired woman apologized and looked to the ground.

"Would you mind if I extract some of your blood?" Tamayo asked

"Go ahead."

"Also, can I extract some more after your transformation is done?" She asked as she approached him with a syringe that Yushiro passed her.

"Sure."

"Thank you."

"Do… do you think it will help? With your research?" Genya asked as she began to extract the blood.

"...I don't know." Tamayo said softly. "But I'm hoping it will." She took out the syringe and passed it to Yushiro who had already prepared another one. "You are going back with Tanjiro-san, right?"

"Yes."

"Could you let me run a few tests on you until you have to go?"

"Of course."

.

The Kamado watched the two with a smile.

'Genya's scent always gave a feeling like he was uncomfortable.' He thought. 'There is still some discomfort but… he is a lot more relaxed than before.' His eyes moved to Ito. 'They haven't talked since that night when Ito-san slipped up about his ability…' Tanjiro mentally sighed. 'I just hope they can patch things up before we go.' With that, he excused himself and went back outside to continue training.

.

.

At night.

Chachamaru arrived at the house around an hour after the sun had gone down, Tanjiro had thanked her constantly and pet her for finding Nezuko; the cat certainly didn't seem to mind, since she had lie down on Tanjiro's lap once they all sat down at the table to eat and was now sleeping there.

"Thank you for making so much food, Tamayo-san." The Kamado said happily as he ate, doing his best to avoid bothering Chachamaru.

"Don't mention it, we usually just buy it to keep up appearances so it's good that it doesn't go to waste." She answered. "Ito-san helped as well."

At the mention of her name, the white haired demon stiffened.

"Really?"

"I-I just… did what Tamayo-san told me to." She answered, looking at the ground.

"It's delicious." Genya commented offhandedly as he took a bite of some tempura.

"R-really?" Ito asked, glancing at him.

The Shinazugawa nodded with an 'hn' as he continued to eat.

'That's a good sign.' The Kamado kept that thought to himself but he could tell Ito was both happy and surprised about the compliment, he didn't need his nose to tell that much.

The five continued to enjoy the food, or the company in the three demon's case; it wasn't until Tanjiro and Genya were done that Tamayo spoke up.

"Tanjiro-san, Genya-san." She called out, earning the two's attention. "When you go back, I'd like to ask that you give this to the leader of the corps." She presented a letter to the two.

"What is it?" Tanjiro asked.

"A proposal, of sorts." Tamayo answered. "Let me make this clear, this is for only the leader to see, no one else."

"Hmm." Genya said. "I don't have a problem with that but… we're technically fugitives, the letter could be confiscated before we have the chance to give it to him."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." She said with a nod. "Yushiro prepared this as well."

At the mention of his name, the green haired demon looked in a pocket of his kimono jacket and took out several of the knives Tanjiro uses to collect demon blood.

"Tanjiro-san, do you think you could ask people you trust to also collect demon blood?"

"Yes." The Kamado nodded immediately. "I'm not sure if they will agree but I will ask them… Sabito will probably ask me about it, now that I think about it." He suddenly frowned. "But… if I do that, then I would have to tell them about you."

At this, Yushiro growled and averted his eyes but didn't say anything.

"That's alright." Tamayo answered, her face neutral. "I just ask that you don't reveal where I am; we will probably move soon and we will take precautions to erase our trail but I'd rather not risk it."

"You have my word." The red haired teen nodded.

"That goes for you as well." Yushiro said, giving a side glare at the other human in the room.

"I won't say anything." He answered, all too used to his glares by now.

"Thank you." Tamayo said to the two. "Now, you should go rest, you have a busy day ahead of you."

"Before that." Yushiro chimed in. "This Sabito, does he have peach colored hair and a scar on his cheek?"

"Yes." Tanjiro nodded.

"Nezuko is in his house." Yushiro revealed. "I also saw that woman with the fox mask and another guy… blue eyes, black hair in a ponytail, has a red haori."

"Oh, that must be Tomioka-san!" The red haired teen said. "I'm glad; if Nezuko is with them then I don't have to worry."

"That's good." Tamayo smiled. "Now, for real this time, you should rest."

"Yes, thank you very much." Tanjiro said, carefully lifting Chachamaru from his lap, only for the cat to stir awake. "Sorry, I need to move now."

She looked at him for a second before yawning and jumping down, walking to Tamayo and climbing to her lap instead.

"Good night." The purple eyed woman said with a small smile as she pet Chachamaru.

With that, the two got up and excused themselves, leaving the room and closing the door behind them.

"…Genya?" Tanjiro asked when he saw that his friend wasn't walking to his room.

"I need to do something, go ahead."

"…alright." The Kamado nodded. "Good night."

"Good night."

.

.

Genya took a deep breath as he waited next to the door of Ito's room; she had yet to come back, meaning she was likely still with Tamayo and Yushiro, but the Shinazugawa needed to clear up a few things before leaving.

After around twenty minutes of waiting, he heard footsteps and turned to see her walking; he couldn't help but frown at the way she recoiled when their eyes met.

"Oh, um… good evening." She greeted, looking anywhere but in his general direction.

"Hey." Genya answered. '…damn it.' He frowned again; he had imagined a few ways this conversation could go but now that he was here, he didn't know where to begin.

"D-did you need something?"

"Not 'need' but…" He sighed. "Alright, look, I'll just be brutally honest: I hate you."

For the first time since she accidentally revealed a hint about Genya is ability, she actually looked him in the eye, shock clear in her features.

"Not you, specifically, I hate demons." He clarified. "I'm not sure how much you know of the Demon Slayer Corps but its not unusual for members to have lost family due to demons, that's my case as well."

Ito averted her eyes and hugged herself.

"I honestly have a hard time accepting all of… this." He gestured around. "The fact that there are demons that don't need to be cut down is… a strange concept to me, one that I'm not certain is actually possible."

"I… see…" The woman said simply, averting her eyes.

"So, I want to ask you something."

'To never talk to you again?' Was Ito is first thought.

"Prove me wrong."

"…huh?"

"The first time I met Tanjiro's sister… well, to say I was surprised would be an understatement." He chuckled sardonically. "We were fighting a demon, one that could control others, including other demons, I had to reveal my ability and Nezuko revealed herself to cover us, then Tanjiro rushed and defeated the mastermind while Nezuko and I fought the ones she was controlling… I was fighting the humans she was using, I couldn't kill them so I was just doing my best to keep them busy but one of the controlled demons decided to ignore her and tried to attack me, went straight for my neck." He did a chopping motion over his neck with his right hand for emphasis. "She took the hit for me and got injured on the arm; anyway, long story short, we defeated that demon and the controlled humans fell unconscious when they got free of her influence." Genya paused and sighed. "I had half a mind to try and cut Nezuko's head but… I owed her to at least listen to their story and that brought me here." The Shinazugawa walked forward until he was standing in front of Ito. "I still have a hard time accepting demons but if I was able to accept Nezuko… then the least I can do is give you a chance."

The white haired woman gulped and looked up, looking him in the eye.

"I… I'm not like her." She began, still trembling but forcing her eyes to remain on him. "I have killed and eaten people a-and I am very much aware that I've done unforgivable things." Ito stopped, taking a deep breath. "To be completely honest, I think a part of me accepted Tanjiro-san is offer just to survive; I didn't think I really wanted to keep living but… when he presented me with that opportunity… I can't say with absolute certainty that I said yes because I feel remorse for my actions; for a demon, eating humans is just… what we have to do to survive."

Genya remained silent, his face completely neutral.

"But… I can say this with certainty." For the first time since he met her, Genya saw her speak confidently. "While I don't know if I truly feel remorse for what I did… I don't want to do it again; now that I know there is a way for me to live without killing, I want to keep to that path."

The Shinazugawa smiled.

"At the very least, I believe you when you say that." He walked past her. "Please prove that you mean it."

Ito turned around.

"Yes!" She nodded and stared at his back until Genya turned the corner.

* * *

The next morning.

Tanjiro was grateful that Tamayo and Yushiro had patched up his clothes, his haori in particular, as he put them on.

'Nezuko… I'm coming.' Nodding to himself, he grabbed a bag that contained some rice balls, a bit of medicine, as well as the letter for Oyakata-sama and the knives Yushiro made to extract blood from demons.

_Knock Knock_

"Come in." He called out.

The door opened to reveal Genya, holding a similar bag to Tanjiro's.

"You ready?"

"Yes, let's go." The red haired teen nodded and he followed his friend.

He and Genya walked down to the foot of the stairs that lead to the basement, seeing Tamayo, Yushiro and Ito waiting for them.

"Thank you for all your help." Tanjiro bowed.

"Don't mention it." Tamayo answered with a smile. "Tanjiro-san, please remember that, while not threatening to your life, you are still recovering from your injuries."

"I will keep it in mind."

She nodded at him.

"Genya-san, thank you for helping him and for telling us about your unusual ability."

"It's fine… does that mean that it will help?"

"We ran some tests, the results seemed good." Yushiro answered.

"I'm sorry for speaking out of turn that time." Ito mentioned.

"It's fine, water under the bridge." He assured her, waving a hand in front of his face. "Well, it's time to get going; thank you for your hospitality."

"Until we meet again." The two humans bowed before turning around and walk up the stairs to where Chachamaru was waiting for them.

"Oh, I should get back to work, if you excuse me." Ito said after the two left and walked away.

"…Tamayo-sama." Yushiro said after she was out of earshot. "I know I already gave you my opinion and that it's too late now but… are you sure it was wise to send that letter and tell Tanjiro that he could reveal your existence?"

"It is a risk." She answered, not looking bothered in the slightest. "If I'm honest, we've been taking a lot of them since meeting Tanjiro-san; just helping him back in Asakusa was a risk." Tamayo smiled, looking at the top of the stairs. "But… it's worth it; for too long I've just been thinking that I want to accomplish my objective… and this is the first time I feel like I'm truly taking steps towards them instead of just planning ways to do it." She turned around and began to walk. "I will still take precautions but… staying hidden and waiting for an opportunity hasn't really worked out for me, I think it is good to try a new approach."

"I will support you." Yushiro said, moving to keep pace with her. "Whatever may happen, you can always count on that."

"I know." Tamayo smiled towards him. "Thank you."

* * *

It has been a few hours since the two demon hunters left Tamayo's house, they continued to follow Chachamaru through the road, trusting the cat to guide them.

"So, is there anything you can tell me about them?" Genya asked as he ate a rice ball.

"Let's see…" Tanjiro began. "I met Tomioka-san first, he was sent to search for demons in my hometown but ended up finding me and Nezuko… I'm not sure exactly what happened, he knocked me unconscious and when I woke up, Nezuko was alive and he told me to go to Mt. Sagiri where I met my master; I haven't seen him since."

"Wait… he never visited, or sent a letter or something?"

"Makomo told me he was going to a few times but a mission always came up." The Kamado shrugged.

"…alright; well, what about the other two?"

"Right; like I said before, Sabito is the Water Pillar, I first met him and Makomo when they came to visit Urokodaki-san, our master, there was some… friction at first, mostly with Sabito." He chuckled when he remembered. "Anyway, after about a year and a half since I began training they helped me to finally manage to use Total Concentration Breathing."

The Kamado explained how Makomo was mostly in charge of his training, having him correct his stance and explaining a bit about the breathing technique while Sabito pretty much pummeled him into the ground to test if he had become stronger or not and how he managed to cut the boulder.

"They sound… strict." Genya settled for that word.

"To say the least." Tanjiro chuckled. "But I'm really grateful, without them, I'm not sure if I would have been able to complete my training."

"I see…"

"What's wrong?" The Kamado asked, noticing the frown.

"No, it's nothing…" He said, looking away.

"I can tell that something is bothering you, Genya."

"…just wondering why I couldn't learn how to use a breathing technique is all." He admitted.

"Oh."

"Yeah… look, I am willing to eat demons if it lets me fight but… I assure you, I don't like it, not one bit." Genya shuddered.

"I honestly don't know enough about Total Concentration Breathing to tell you… in Makomo's words, you have to 'train to death' to achieve it."

"I did that, believe me; I honestly don't know what else I could have done to learn it…" The taller teen sighed. "Never mind, I might not be able to use a breath style but I can fight and that's enough for me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Alright." Tanjiro answered. "Just let me know if you ever want to talk about it."

"Thanks… well, that conversation took a weird turn."

"You think?" The Kamado asked, tilting his head.

"Let's just change the subject." Genya said with a chuckle.

* * *

It was dusk by the time they finally arrived to their destination.

Chachamaru had raised a paw and pointed at the house where Nezuko was before meowing and turning invisible.

"Well, let's go." Tanjiro said.

Genya nodded in agreement and the two walked to the door, knocking twice.

The two teens gulped as they heard footsteps approaching.

"Who is it?" Tanjiro recognized Makomo's voice, making him smile.

"It's Tanjiro."

Almost immediately, the door was opened with so much force it might have come out of its hinges.

"It's been a while, Makomo." The red haired teen greeted with a nervous smile.

She was wearing her uniform minus the haori but her mask was still in place.

"Yes, it has." Her smile, by comparison, was calm. "And you're the swordsman I saw in the forest." She mentioned, looking at the other teen.

"Ah, my name is Shinazugawa Genya, nice to meet you." He said, bowing his head.

"I'm Makomo, likewise." She bowed back. "Please, come in."

The two did as told.

"Did something happen? We heard the door…" Sabito trailed off when he saw Tanjiro while Giyu, who was walking behind him, stared with his eyes wide.

Like Makomo, the two were wearing their uniforms but without the haori.

"I'm back." The Kamado said, scratching the back of his head.

The Water Pillar blinked before chuckling.

"Well, we knew you would come back eventually; I'm a bit surprised it was so soon, though."

"Hm, is Nezuko…"

"Come on, I'll take you to her." Makomo said, signaling to follow her. "The sun is about to go down so she should wake up soon."

"Thank you!"

While Tanjiro and Genya followed her, Sabito exchanged a look with Giyu before signaling his Tsuguko to follow them while he walked elsewhere.

.

As Tanjiro followed Makomo, he noticed that she seemed to be walking somewhat fast.

'She is not running but… I think she wants to bring me to her as soon as possible.' The Kamado smiled at the thought as he kept pace with her until she stopped in front of a door.

"She is in there." The black haired woman said. "Come on, don't keep her waiting." She urged him.

Tanjiro nodded at her before walking forward and opening the door.

Like Makomo had said, she was there; resting on top of a futon, the only window in the room closed letting just a bit of moonlight in.

His smile widened and he let out a sigh of relief before walking forward and sitting in seiza next to her.

"Nezuko." He called out calmly.

The younger Kamado stirred for a moment and slowly opened her eyes before turning her head towards him.

"I'm back." The red haired teen said happily.

Nezuko's eyes widened before she threw off the covers and lunged to hug her brother, Tanjiro happily hugging her back.

"I'm so sorry." He said, tightening the hug. "I'm sorry, it's because I wasn't strong enough that we had to be separated."

She shook her head several times, still hugging him.

The other three watched the siblings with a smile.

.

Eventually, the two let go of each other and Tanjiro turned to Makomo.

"Thank you for protecting her."

"I gave you my word." She smiled. "It wasn't just me, though, Giyu here helped as well." Makomo moved out of the way and gestured towards the Tsuguko with her head.

"Thank you very much." The Kamado said to him.

Giyu nodded.

"Hm? Hm!" Nezuko suddenly mumbled and pointed at Genya.

"Ah, nice to see you again." The Shinazugawa greeted, a bit awkwardly.

The younger Kamado smiled under her muzzle and waved at him.

"Sorry to interrupt but…" Sabito spoke up, walking up to the group. "We have to talk."

"Yes." Tanjiro nodded, still smiling despite having an idea about what the conversation will be about.

.

.

The six walked to the dining room and sat around a table, with Tanjiro, Genya and Nezuko in one side and Sabito, Makomo and Giyu in the other; a large pot of tea and six cups between them.

"Well… I guess it would be a good idea if we tell each other what happened after the mountain?" Sabito said, to start the conversation. "I'll begin; after we got Nezuko out we made our way here, another Pillar was waiting for us and we fought, they thought we were under the influence of a Blood Demon Art and that's why we were helping Nezuko."

"I'm sorry you had to fight them." Tanjiro said with a frown.

"We chose to do that." Giyu answered.

"Giyu is right, don't worry about it." Makomo added.

"While we were fighting, Oyakata-sama showed up and stopped us." The water Pillar continued. "We explained everything about Nezuko and then he met her…" Sabito and Makomo chuckled while Giyu cracked a small grin.

"Is something wrong?" Genya asked, him and Tanjiro looking at three in confusion.

"No, it's nothing." The peach haired man said, stopping his laugh. "After meeting her, he decided that she wasn't to be harmed and to tell him when you come back."

"Which we already did." Makomo added. "Sabito sent a crow after he saw you."

"I see…" The Kamado nodded. "So, what happens now?"

"He will likely order us to bring you three to headquarters to explain yourselves." Sabito answered. "I'll tell you this now, I believe that Oyakata-sama will listen to you but… some of the Pillars will likely take issue with your sister's existence."

Tanjiro gulped and pulled Nezuko closer to him.

"I don't think they will attack, though." Giyu mentioned. "Not if Oyakata-sama says otherwise, at least."

"True." Makomo nodded, taking a sip of her tea. "And even then, I think some of the Pillars will at least be willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Tengen seemed to be on our side after Nezuko hugged Oyakata-sama, at least."

"Wait, she did what?" Genya blurted out in surprise, Tanjiro's eyes widening and glancing at his sister.

"Don't worry about it." Giyu answered simply.

"And Shinobu wanted to meet her the other day." Sabito and Makomo mentioned. "I wouldn't call them allies but you do have some people that won't automatically stand against your sister."

"That's a relief." Tanjiro said with a smile. "I guess I should tell you what happened in our side."

The three nodded.

"This… will be a long story." He took a sip of his tea. "I had a mission in Asakusa where… I met Kibutsuji Muzan."

Everyone's eyes but Nezuko's went wide as they stared at the red haired teen.

"What?" Giyu said once he recovered.

"I met Muzan." He repeated, forcing himself to stop clenching his jaw when he felt a sting of pain.

"…go on." Sabito said after taking a deep breath.

The Kamado explained everything, from how he caught Muzan's scent, how the first demon turned a man that was walking by in order to escape, his meeting with Tamayo and Yushiro, Tamayo's objective, how he spared a demon in Natagumo and why, and so on.

"…so that's why you told me to stab the body of that Lower Moon." The Water Pillar realized.

"Yes, Tamayo-san says that she will be able to create a cure for demons if she can study the blood of demons close to Muzan." Tanjiro nodded.

"Are you sure about sparing that demon in the mountain?" Giyu suddenly asked. "She has killed people, including some corps members, hasn't she?"

"She has." The red haired teen nodded. "But she wants to start over; I asked Tamayo-san about it while I was recovering from some wounds before Natagumo and she approved of sending demons that wish to live without eating humans to her." He explained.

"…I guess we'll have to trust your judgement on this." Sabito said with a sigh and a frown; Giyu nodded.

"Tamayo-san also asked me to ask people I trust if they could get some blood for her research and… gave me a letter for Oyakata-sama."

The three senior demon hunters' eyes went wide for the second time.

"…can we see it?" Makomo asked.

"I'm sorry, she was very specific that it was only for the leader of the corps." The Kamado answered apologetically.

"I guess we'll wait till the meeting." Sabito sighed. "Tanjiro… do you trust her?"

"Yes."

"I mean… do you really think she is telling the truth or are you hanging onto the hope that she is because she said she can cure Nezuko?" The Water Pillar clarified.

"I sniffed her scent during our first meeting, she wasn't lying." Tanjiro assured him. "Same with Ito-san, the demon from the mountain."

"…alright, then." Sabito nodded, then turned to Genya. "What about you?"

"Hm… what about me?" The Shinazugawa asked back.

"We know why Tanjiro did what he did." Makomo began. "And don't get me wrong, we're grateful you helped him, but we would like to know why."

"…long story short; I found out about Nezuko during a mission we had together and- shit!"

"I almost forgot!" Tanjiro suddenly yelled.

"Murata-san and Ozaki-san, do you know what happened to them?" The black haired teen asked.

"They were our supervisors."

"Murata survived Natagumo, last I heard his wounds were minor and he was already recovered." Sabito answered.

"Is Ozaki a woman with shoulder length black hair and brown eyes?" Makomo asked.

The two Mizunotos nodded.

"Don't worry, she is recovering at the Butterfly State, the corps' unofficial hospital." Makomo assured them with a smile.

Both let out a sigh of relief at hearing that.

"What were you saying?" Giyu asked, his face neutral.

"Oh, right, sorry." Genya apologized and cleared his throat. "We were sent on a mission together where I found out about Nezuko during our battle against the demon there and… we agreed to keep each other's secrets."

The three senior demon hunters stared at the last sentence.

"It's easier to just show you… do you mind?" Genya turned to the Kamados.

"No, it's fine; Nezuko." Tanjiro answered, turning to his sister. "Could you give Genya some of your blood like you did in Natagumo?"

"Just a drop will be fine." The Shinazugawa chimed in.

"Wait, blood?"

"Trust me, it's better if I just show you." He answered the Water Pillar.

The younger Kamado nodded and used her thumb to cut the tip of her index and presented the finger to Genya.

He used his own index to scoop the blood and then brought it to his mouth, transforming after a few seconds.

"That's…" Makomo trailed off, her eyes wide.

Genya explained to them how he learned about his ability but that he doesn't know how it's possible or why he has it and that he will turn back to normal in some time, probably a few minutes since he had literally just a drop of blood.

"I was forced to reveal this to a group of demon hunters in the mountain so… I didn't think there was any point in keeping it secret." He explained.

"There were some reports about… well, I guess you, but I thought they were hallucinating or a Blood Demon Art had done something to them." Sabito muttered before shrugging. "Well, doesn't change anything now; thank you for telling us."

"N-no, it was nothing." He stuttered.

"…excuse me." Tanjiro spoke up, gaining the other's attention. "This meeting, do you know when it will happen?"

"If I had to guess, a crow will come either later tonight or early in the morning telling us to go to headquarters." Makomo answered him.

"Yeah… so it's probably a good idea to get some rest; is there anything else you have to tell us?"

Tanjiro and Genya exchanged a look before shaking their heads.

"Then let's go to sleep… tomorrow will be an interesting day." Makomo said.

They all nodded in agreement.

* * *

**And done!**

**One thing before anything else; I am actually not sure if Chachamaru is a boy or a girl, a google search and the wiki didn't give any answers BUT, since it is a calico cat, I did quick search about those types of cats and it turns out that they are almost always female.**

**So, unless someone can give me a legitimate source saying that Chachamaru is actually a male, I will address her as a 'she' from now on.**

**I think that's it; as always, I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to leave a comment~**

**Until next time!**


	24. The trial

**The trial**

**Guest review answer corner.**

**.**

**Guest: Thank you~ I always do my best to have the characters stay true to themselves so I'm happy to hear I'm doing a good job!**

**Honestly, I am more of the type that begins to write the chapter and the rest flows but I do have a few important moments noted for when I have to write them, Genya and Ito's conversation was actually one of them.**

**Hey, Genya is awesome and he deserved a lot more spotlight! I love KnY with a passion but if there is anything I would have loved to see more is Genya interacting with the rest of the Sense Squad and Kanao and Tanjiro fighting together, at least once!**

**Well, you're going to find out what happens to him in the trial now so, fingers crossed? Haha**

**Thank you for the comment!**

**Guest: Okaaaaay! Hehehe.**

**BB3: I am aware about Ito's real form, I didn't forget; all I can say without giving spoilers is that I have a few ideas around it.**

**Thank you for the comment!**

**Guest: Thank you! I will update now!**

**.**

**One quick thing, for the guest reviews that asked me when I will update.**

**First of all, it doesn't bother me that you ask, on the contrary I am really happy that you asked; it brings a smile to my face to know that you like my story and want to know when a new chapter will be up.**

**But I just don't have a way to answer guest reviews except by posting a new chapter and answering in the notes.**

**If you want, you can comment on the ao3 version of this fic, I can answer guest comments there.**

**Just wanted to say that, thank you for all the comments!**

**. **

**Alright, another one!**

**Sorry this took a bit too long but there is a good reason for it!**

**And that reason is:**

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT**

**So, in case you don't read any of my other stories, I'll tell you now that I am a big TanKana fan and I have made the announcement for TanKana Week in twitter.**

**If you're interested, please check the account 'TanKana Estate ( TankanaW)'.**

**END OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT**

**With all that said, on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kimetsu no Yaiba**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Is everyone ready?" Sabito asked, receiving four nods in response. "Let's get going."

"Yes!" Tanjiro and Genya answered while Giyu and Makomo simply followed him.

"Did the crow say anything else?" The Kamado asked.

"Just to bring you two to headquarters and to cover your eyes and ears… we should probably put some plugs in your nose as well." The Water Pillar answered.

"Shouldn't we already be blindfolded then?" Genya asked.

"We're only going through a main road for now, we'll put the blindfolds on you later." Giyu answered.

"I see." Tanjiro nodded. "Do you know what we should expect?"

"…a trial, would be my first guess." Makomo said, earning the two Mizunotos' attention. "Like Sabito said yesterday, we believe Oyakata-sama will give the order to leave Nezuko alone but the other Pillars may not agree."

"Yeah, Shinazugawa in partic…" Sabito trailed off, turning his head to look at Genya. "…would you happen to know a 'Sanemi'?"

"…he is my older brother." The black haired teen answered, averting his gaze. "We… don't really speak with each other."

Tanjiro frowned, remembering what his friend had told him about his brother.

"I won't pry." Sabito said. "But he, in particular, will be against it."

"Iguro-san will likely have some words to say as well." Makomo added.

Tanjiro tightened his grip on the straps of Nezuko's box as they walked.

"It's not like everyone will be against it, though." The black haired girl mentioned.

"What do you mean?" Genya asked.

"Tengen will probably at least be willing to listen." Sabito mentioned.

"Kocho as well." Giyu added.

"And if Oyakata-sama says that she is not to be harmed then they will all agree, even if they're not completely okay with it."

"What is Oyakata-sama like?" The Kamado asked.

"He is…" The Water Pillar trailed off, trying to think of the best way of describing him. "…calming."

"Yes, that sounds like a good way of describing him." Makomo giggled. "Don't worry, you'll understand when you meet him."

Tanjiro nodded.

The five talked a bit more until it was time to blindfold the two and then carried them the rest of the way.

* * *

"We're here." Tanjiro heard Makomo's voice after she took out the earplugs, letting him remove the blindfold and the nose plugs by himself.

"Thank you, sorry you had to carry me." He said to Sabito.

"Likewise." Genya said to Giyu.

"Don't mention it." The peach haired man shrugged, Giyu nodding in agreement.

"Well, let's see who else is here." The black haired girl mentioned, turning on her heel and walking forward.

'It's like Sabito's home but… bigger, a lot bigger.' Tanjiro thought as the group walked to the left of the main entrance and rounded the house, Sabito, Makomo and Giyu at the front.

A minute later, they reached a backyard, small white rocks forming a square pattern in the ground with some grass trimmed and several trees.

"Looks like we're the last ones here." The Water Pillar muttered, stopping as soon as he rounded the corner.

Tanjiro stood and looked at the people in the garden; he recognized the woman with the butterfly ornament that tried to kill Nezuko but no one else, at least from sight.

His three sibling disciples had given him a description of every Pillar and what he should expect from them.

"Took you guys long enough." A tall man with two swords strapped to his back and a painting around a left eye called out as he approached the group.

"I'm fairly certain we're still on time." Giyu answered, his expression unchanged.

Tengen raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything in response.

"So, you're that Kamado kid." He said, looking at the red haired teen.

"I'm Kamado Tanjiro, nice to meet you." Tanjiro bowed in greeting.

"Considering everything Sabito and the others said, I thought you would be more flamboyant."

"…sorry?"

"Well, whatever; I just walked over to greet you all." With those words, the Sound Pillar turned around, waving a hand as he walked back to where he was.

"What was that?" Genya asked in a whisper.

"When it comes to Tengen, you should take his words at face value." Makomo answered him.

"Oyakata-sama will probably be here soon." Giyu pointed out.

"He is right, let's go, no use in standing here." Sabito agreed and the five walked forward.

'They're staring.' Tanjiro thought, trying to not let his worry show. 'Except for those two… the man that seems to be praying must be Himejima Gyomei and the kid Tokito Muichiro… he really is younger than me.' The red haired teen noticed. 'The two that are glaring must be Iguro Obanai and… Genya's brother.' He couldn't help but notice that, unlike his fellow Pillar, Sanemi's glare seemed to be directed towards Genya instead of Tanjiro.

He also noticed that the younger Shinazugawa was making it a point to keep his head down, avoiding his brother's gaze.

'That guy…' The Kamado frowned as he looked at him and was about to open his mouth to say something when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Looking to the right, he noticed it was Genya who smiled weakly and shook his head.

Tanjiro's frown deepened but he nodded and respected his friend's wishes before looking at the rest of the people there.

'The woman I saw in Natagumo is Kocho Shinobu, that makes the other one Kanroji Mitsuri and the only one I'm missing is Rengoku Kyojuro… their scent, it's more of caution and a bit of curiosity than hate like Iguro-san and Shinazugawa-san.'

Reaching a tree that was a bit away from the rest of the Pillars, the five stood there to wait.

"Ara~ Ara~ You're not even going to say hello?" The Insect Pillar asked as she walked forward.

"Sorry, Shinobu; we're all a bit tense." Makomo answered her calmly.

"Yes, I suppose I can understand that." Shinobu nodded before turning to Tanjiro and Genya. "There are a few things I'd like to talk about but they will have to wait until the trial is over… well, it also depends on what the verdict is~"

"Did you need anything?" Giyu asked bluntly.

"Now, now, Tomioka-san; I just wanted to say hello, it's called being polite." She answered him, her smile not wavering in the slightest. "I guess this is another reason why everyone hates you."

"I am not hated." He said immediately.

"Well, why don't we ask?" Shinobu's smile took a slightly teasing edge as she looked back at the red haired teen.

"Kamado Tanjiro-kun, right?"

"Eh, yes."

"Tell me, do you hate Tomioka-san?"

"Hm? Not at all." He answered immediately, as if it was obvious. "He spared Nezuko and guided me to my master, I am very grateful to him." Tanjiro smiled.

"…is that so?" The Kocho said simply, her smile looking more… natural than before. "Well, I just wanted to say hello, I'll leave you to prepare until Oyakata-sama arrives." Shinobu turned around, her haori moving slightly with the movement, and she walked away.

"What was that about?" Genya thought out loud. "Is she someone else that we should 'take at face value'?"

"Not… exactly." Makomo answered, also looking a bit confused at the whole exchange.

"Something wrong, Giyu?" Sabito asked, noticing his slightly wide eyes.

"…no." The Tsuguko said simply, his expression going back to normal.

…

For the next few minutes, the five stood in their spot waiting and ignoring the looks they received.

'Makomo told me to expect a trial but… what can I say or do?' Tanjiro thought. 'Oyakata-sama already met Nezuko and, from what they told me, he seems to be on our side so that's a bit of a relief.' His hand moved to the pocket of his haori where the letter rested. 'Should I give him the letter before the trial? But if I mention Tamayo-san, the other Pillars may say something… I don't think they would let me be alone with him to give him the letter, regardless of the verdict.' The Kamado frowned once again. 'Perhaps I should wait until the trial is over and then give the letter to Sabito, he could probably give it to him without any problem.' He let out a sigh. 'I really should have thought about this before coming here but…' Tanjiro turned to the box in his back where Nezuko was resting, unconsciously tightening his grip on the straps.

Taking a deep breath, the red haired teen decided to deal with the trial first; what he does next can wait.

"Oyakata-sama has arrived." Two girls called out from the mansion in unison.

"Thank you for coming, my beloved children." A soothing voice said next as steps could be heard approaching the garden.

In the blink of an eye, all the Pillars had formed a line and taken a knee while Giyu did the same behind and to the left of Sabito while Makomo did so to his right.

Not wanting to be rude, Tanjiro and Genya did the same, taking a knee behind Giyu and Makomo respectively.

"I'm glad you were all able to arrive without issue."

'…he really is blind.' Tanjiro noticed, seeing the strange coloration that covered his forehead and just below his eyes. 'And… it's like they said, I feel calm.'

"We find it most honorable to be in your presence, Oyakata-sama." Sanemi spoke out. "We eagerly pray for much happiness upon you."

Those words got Tanjiro out of his thoughts and back to reality.

"Thank you, Sanemi." Oyakata-sama answered with a smile as he sat in seiza at the porch. "As you are all aware, I called this meeting to discuss the situation of Kamado Tanjiro who is traveling with his turned to demon sister."

"Oyakata-sama." Iguro said after he finished talking. "With all due respect, what is there to discuss?"

"If he has a demon with him, then we have to kill the demon; it's that simple." Sanemi added.

Tanjiro glanced in their direction, preparing to move at any sign of an attack.

"Now, now; I know that you have a point but these are unusual circumstances." Kagaya answered and, even though he can't see, he turned his gaze towards the five of them. "As I explained to everyone on the letter I sent, Kamado Nezuko was turned into a demon around two years ago, yet she hasn't attacked any humans in all that time."

"Oyakata-sama, how can we be sure that is true?" Rengoku asked. "I do not want to doubt Sabito, Makomo and Giyu's word but is there any other evidence to support the claim that she doesn't attack humans?" The last part was clearly directed towards the Water Pillar's group.

'They're telling the truth.' Tanjiro clenched his fist to stop himself from saying anything.

"Makomo and I performed a test on her to see how she would react if someone attacked her, I went against her with the intent to kill while Makomo kept Tanjiro pinned to the ground to stop him from interfering." Sabito began. "She never once retaliated against me and just continued to dodge my attacks, it wasn't until Makomo got a bit too rough with Tanjiro that she seemed to have an intention of fighting and, even then, she just went towards her brother to help him."

"That's still only your word." Iguro mentioned. "Were there any other witnesses to this?"

"Our Master, Urokodaki-san." Makomo answered.

"Yet someone else that has been sheltering a demon." Sanemi pointed out, glaring in their direction. "You all claim she hasn't attacked anyone but do you have any evidence of this?"

"Do you have evidence that she has?" Giyu asked back.

"…what was that?"

"I asked if you have evidence that she has attacked any humans." The Water Tsuguko repeated, his face as impassive as always.

"Giyu raises a good point." Kagaya spoke, earning everyone's attention. "While I do understand why the existence of a demon that doesn't attack humans is hard to believe, there isn't any evidence to suggest that she has."

The Kamado almost let out a sigh of relief at hearing this but froze when he heard the next words.

"Oyakata-sama." Tokito spoke, surprising more than one person since he is usually quiet. "What if Sabito and the others are under the influence of a Blood Demon Art that has made them think that this demon truly doesn't attack humans?"

"We aren't." Sabito immediately answered.

"So you say." The youngest of the Pillars shrugged.

"Tokito has a point, they could just 'think' they are telling the truth." Obanai supported.

"Well, I believe we should call for someone who is unlikely to be under the influence of such a Blood Demon Art, if that is indeed the case." Kagaya answered, once again earning everyone's attention.

"Oyakata-sama?"

"What do you mean?"

Sabito and Sanemi asked in turn.

"Amane, bring them here, please." He called out.

A few seconds later, the doors opened again and Amane walked in, along with two people wearing the corps' uniform.

Tanjiro's eyes widened as he recognized the two.

"These are Ozaki and Kaigaku." The leader of the corps said as they sat to the side. "They were in Natagumo during the encounter with Lower Moon 5 and witnessed Nezuko's existence with their own eyes."

Ozaki caught the Kamado's gaze and sent him and Genya a small reassuring smile while Kaigaku kept his eyes forward, keeping his face carefully blank.

"Ozaki was Tanjiro's overseer until a wound forced her to take a medical leave, could you please give us your honest opinion about him?"

"Of course." She bowed towards Oyakata-sama before turning to face everyone else.

Taking a deep breath to calm down, she began explaining how they met, the way he acted during their first mission together and even praised his knowledge of demons, willingness to listen to her advice as his senior and his skill with a blade, mentioning that she only interfered in his battle because civilians were, unfortunately, involved.

"Did you know that the box contained his turned to demon sister?" Kagaya asked next.

"I only became aware of that fact during the incident at the Natagumo Mountain."

"You didn't notice a demon right in front of you?" Sanemi asked, glaring at her.

Ozaki gulped.

"I only knew that the box was 'more important to him than his life', his words, but I didn't feel it was my place to ask why or to ask to see inside it, we were still just acquaintances at best at the time." She answered. "I thought that there was something inside that is precious to him, such as a gift from his family or that _the box itself_ was the gift, I had no reason to suspect it had his sister in it."

"Tanjiro." Kagaya turned to the red haired teen. "Did you have your sister with you while traveling with Ozaki?"

"Yes! We haven't been separated until the fight at Natagumo." He answered.

"In all the time you were together with Ozaki, did your sister ever leave the box?"

"Well… not in her presence." Tanjiro began. "During a mission, the one where I met Genya and his overseer, Murata-san, Genya and I were forced to separate from Ozaki-san and act on our own; Nezuko saved us at the time and helped to defeat the demon we were hunting but she went back inside the box afterwards and Ozaki-san never saw her."

"That's how I found out about her." Genya added.

"Then, Ozaki, can you please tell us when you found out and how?" Oyakata-sama asked.

"I…" The Tsuchinoto trailed off, sending a fleeting glance to Genya but not saying anything else.

"Oyakata-sama asked you a question." Iguro hissed.

"Ozaki-san." Genya spoke up. "It's alright, I wasn't planning to keep it a secret anyway." He smiled slightly.

"…very well." The woman nodded while everyone but the ones aware of Genya's ability looked a bit confused. "During the battle at the Natagumo mountain, my squad and I were almost wiped out because of a Blood Demon Art, I am not exactly sure how but the demon was able to control our bodies and made us attack each other." She bit her lip, memories of what had happened coming back. "Most of us were already dead when Tanjiro, Genya and another swordsman I haven't met before showed up, they tried to immobilize us without killing us but the demon continued to force us to attack them, then…" Taking another deep breath, she looked at Genya one more time for confirmation.

The Mizunoto nodded.

"…Tanjiro told his sister to come out of the box, it was the first time I saw her but... I could tell she was a demon."

"And? She helped you?" Shinobu asked.

"…indirectly." That answer got a few raised eyebrows. "Tanjiro and…"

"Inosuke." The Kamado said after noticing the look sent his way.

"Inosuke; they both went ahead to find the demon and kill it while Genya stayed to keep us at bay… after drinking some blood from Tanjiro's sister."

This time, everyone's eyes went to the younger Shinazugawa.

"Drink her blood?" Kanroji asked, a confused frown crossing her features.

"What does that mean?"

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"Isn't that dangerous?"

Many of the Pillars began to ask one after another but all the questions stopped when Oyakata-sama raised his index to his lips, signaling for silence.

"Genya, could you please explain why you did that?" He asked calmly.

"I… don't know why but I can temporarily acquire demon-like traits by eating demons' flesh or drinking their blood; I first found out about this during the Final Selection when I received a mortal wound after defeating a demon and, in my desperation to survive, thought I could maybe regenerate if I ate a piece of it that hadn't disappeared yet… and, by some miracle, it worked." He explained, his eyes moving towards his brother.

Everyone stayed silent at this revelation, some with shock in their faces and others with curiosity… except for one person whose eyes had gone wide and his expression turned into a snarl.

"You did what?" Sanemi asked; he didn't raise his voice but, in the silence that had settled, it was heard very clearly.

Before anyone could say anything, the Wind Pillar had dashed from his spot straight towards his brother, the index and middle fingers of his right hand aiming for Genya's eyes.

'Wha-?!' Genya didn't have time to react, he watched as the fingers approached, the shock just beginning to register.

Just before they would reach his eyes, Makomo used her arms as support and kicked the older Shinazugawa's arm upwards from her prone position.

Tanjiro reacted and pulled Genya away from him while Sabito jumped and grabbed the back of Sanemi's head and one of his arms and pushed down.

Makomo used her other leg to sweep Sanemi's feet, making him lose his balance and fall to the ground, Sabito making sure that he stays there.

"What are you doing?!" Tanjiro yelled, standing between the Shinazugawas.

"What? I was just going to take his eyes so he quits the corps." The white haired man answered, trying to overpower Sabito.

Giyu and Makomo quickly moved to help his friend in restraining him, the former grabbing his legs while Makomo grabbed his other arm, completely immobilizing him.

"Ni… Aniki…" Genya whispered.

"Can't you see that Genya wants to fight too?! You don't have any right to force him to quit!" The Kamado continued.

"Shut up! I don't care what a brat like you thinks! He doesn't have any talent with the sword and has to eat demons to fight?! Don't fuck with me! Doesn't that make him a demon?!"

Genya reeled back as if struck at those words.

"You…!" Tanjiro growled.

"Then why not cut off his head?" Giyu asked.

"…what was that?" Sanemi asked, his eyes moving towards where the Tsuguko was but unable to see him since Sabito was keeping his head in place and he was on his blind spot.

"If he is a demon as you say he is, why make him quit? Why not cut off his head?"

"Tomioka…" The Wind Pillar's rage seemed to double, as well as his efforts to get out from their grip but, try as he might, he wasn't able to.

"I believe that's enough." Kagaya spoke up, his tone unchanged. "Sanemi, I believe I can somewhat understand your feelings but I can't condone your actions just now; refrain from attacking other members of the corps."

"…as you wish." The fact that it took a long time for him to answer wasn't lost on anyone. "Let me go, I won't try to attack."

Very slowly, Sabito, Giyu and Makomo did that and the Wind Pillar moved back to his spot without saying a word.

"Are you alright, Genya?" Tanjiro asked him.

"Y-yeah…" He mumbled. "L-let's get back on topic, please."

"…alright." The Kamado nodded and moved to kneel where Genya was before, making his friend take his place.

"Ehm…" Kanroji raised her hand to speak.

"Yes?"

"I don't know how Genya-kun's ability works but, shouldn't a doctor take a look at him?"

"I second that." Shinobu said.

"I tend to agree." Kagaya nodded. "Is that okay with you, Genya?"

"Eh? Ah… yes, I don't mind." He nodded.

"Very well; could you perform the examination, Shinobu?"

"Of course." The Insect Pillar nodded.

Oyakata-sama nodded again.

"Now, let's get back on topic." Kagaya turned to Ozaki.

"Oyakata-sama." Himejima spoke up. "I do not agree with Shinazugawa is actions, however, are we sure it's safe to keep Genya around? Or that he won't turn into a demon if he continues to eat them?"

"I don't believe that he will but, for the time being, I will wait to take any action until after Shinobu performs a medical check; I won't be sending him in any mission so there shouldn't be any need for him to eat any demons in the meantime; is that acceptable?"

"Yes." Gyomei nodded. "May I ask why you believe that there is no risk?"

"Just my intuition." He answered before turning to Ozaki. "Could you continue, please?"

"Ah, of course." She nodded, recovering from the surprise. "There… isn't much else to tell if I'm honest, while Genya kept my squad and I at bay, Tanjiro and Inosuke must have defeated the demon since their control over our bodies was lost; I received treatment and blacked out after the Water Pillar and his friend showed up and questioned what happened." Ozaki frowned. "I… didn't say anything about Tanjiro's sister or Genya's ability at the time." She added.

"I can't blame you for that; it was a strange situation, to say the least." Sabito shrugged.

"Thank you." The Tsuchinoto bowed her head. "I recovered a few days ago but was told to stay put and wait for further orders; I can only assume it was because Oyakata-sama wished to have me as a witness today."

"That is correct." Kagaya nodded. "Thank you for giving your account of the events, are there any questions?"

"The demon's existence was revealed by Kocho so I understand why no one questioned you about it; but why didn't you say anything about Shinazugawa's brother is ability?" Iguro asked, glaring in her direction.

"They saved me, I wanted to at least listen to what they have to say before revealing anything."

"How come no one else said anything?" Tengen asked next.

"I honestly don't know, I was sure someone else would have reported it but no one ever questioned me further in the matter."

"I think I can answer this one." Sabito spoke up. "After Oyakata-sama stopped the fight at my estate, I checked the reports from Natagumo and there are mentions of Nezuko as well as an 'abnormal demon', and other similar descriptions, since we were all focused in just Nezuko's existence, we must have ignored that part or thought they all referred to Nezuko and not someone else."

"…hm, that does sound like a plausible explanation."

"I know I wouldn't believe that a human can temporarily turn into a demon if I just read it in a report from someone that almost got killed." Rengoku and Uzui said in turn.

"Any other questions?" No one raised their voice. "Very well, thank you for your time, Ozaki."

"It was no issue." She answered with a bow.

'Thank you, Ozaki-san.' Tanjiro smiled.

"Now, as for the other person that I invited today as a witness." He turned to Kaigaku. "Kaigaku, could you please tell us how you met Tanjiro?"

"Certainly." He nodded.

'Kaigaku-san sounds… weird.' The Kamado thought, noticing the polite tone of his voice. 'I guess it's because he is in front of all the Pillars and Oyakata-sama.'

"I was travelling with the swordsman I was overseeing and he happened to be going in the same direction; we didn't talk much after introductions were over and the crow ordered us to hurry to the demon's location." Kaigaku began. "I also wasn't aware that he was traveling with a demon until the battle at Natagumo; although I found out under different circumstances."

"Can you tell us your honest opinion of him?"

"I… don't like him." The Breath of Thunder user answered with a frown. "I won't deny that he has skill with a blade but I can't say I like his attitude and the way he talks back even when someone has seniority over him."

"Huh?" Ozaki let out that sound and almost immediately shut her mouth.

"Do you wish to say something, Ozaki?" Kagaya asked.

"Ah, well… Tanjiro was always respectful when he was with me…" She turned to Kaigaku. "Can I ask in what circumstances he 'talked back to you'?"

"…"

"Please, answer." Oyakata-sama requested.

"…when I was berating the swordsman I was overseeing, who also happens to be my… sibling disciple." Kaigaku said the last words through gritted teeth, as if calling him that was wrong. "He told me to, excuse me, more like _demanded_ that I apologize to him."

"And with good reason." Tanjiro spoke up, staring at the older swordsman. "You weren't just 'berating' Zenitsu, you were treating him like garbage."

"That guy continued to cry about how he was going to die and that he doesn't want to go on missions; I can't be holding his hand or drag him along every time I go to fight a demon, calling him that is the only way to make him move." Kaigaku answered, staring back at him.

"That's not your reason." The red haired teen refuted.

"Now, now." Kagaya chimed in. "I'm afraid there are other things we need to discuss right now, let's please get back on track."

The two maintained the staring contest for a few more seconds until Kaigaku broke it.

"In any case; the demon was hiding in a mansion and, after defeating it, I went ahead to a wisteria house to rest; however, my crow ordered me to go to a different mission before I got there so we parted ways, I didn't see him again until Natagumo where we happened to cross paths again, he was with another swordsman, he had a boar mask."

"Inosuke." Tanjiro reminded him.

"The guy with the boar mask said that they had defeated the demon that was controlling the others and, before we could talk more, another demon showed up; it ran away as soon as it saw us but then called for another one, this one was considerably larger and absurdly strong; it managed to send Kamado flying through the air."

Tanjiro grimaced at remembering the 'father' of the spider family.

'I genuinely thought he was the Lower Moon at the time.'

"Inosuke and that demon continued their fight elsewhere while I went to chase the demon that had escaped; it turns out she had run where the head of that group was, a Lower Moon." No one reacted at that information, they had heard that a Lower Moon was present. "I hid and watched him fight while waiting for an opportunity to strike but… to put it simply, he was outmatched, I didn't see any way that he could defeat that demon and even thought he was about to die, that's when the demon in his box appeared." Kaigaku sent a look towards Tanjiro. "I wasn't sure what I saw at the time; like I said before, I don't like him but I didn't think he had a demon in that box of his… in any case, the Lower Moon had ordered that other demon to go somewhere and, since I didn't see any way I could be of use there, I decided to chase after her instead so I wouldn't have to fight two demons at the same time." His gaze moved towards Shinobu. "I happened to run into the Insect Pillar and guided her where Kamado and the other demon were fighting."

Several eyes moved towards Shinobu.

"That's correct, Sabito-san happened to get there before me and the Lower Moon was already defeated by the time I got there but I saw Nezuko-san so I attacked, everyone already knows what happened after that in my end." The Kocho explained.

"While they were fighting I chased after Kamado, another slayer got to him first and was about to cut off his sister's head but he got on the way and told the demon to run; it looked like he intended to continue to interfere so I stood in his way and… I don't know how, but he managed to knock me out."

"…didn't he just finish fighting a Lower Moon?" Rengoku asked. "Unless I'm mistaken, he should have been exhausted after that." He directed the last part towards Tanjiro.

"I was, I barely managed to knock out Kaigaku-san by head-butting him but I couldn't move at all afterwards." The red haired teen said.

"I found him just after that; Genya was there and, after realizing he knows about Nezuko, I told him to get Tanjiro out of there." Makomo chimed in.

"I woke up the next morning, found out what happened and gave my account of the events." Kaigaku finished.

"Thank you." Kagaya said. "Are there any questions?"

"Were you aware of Genya's ability?" Uzui asked immediately.

"I wasn't, this is the first time I hear anything like that... I didn't even know such a thing was possible." He answered with a frown.

"Any other questions?" No one raised their voice. "Then, Tanjiro, Genya, could you tell us where you were and what you've been doing this past week?"

The two exchanged a look before Tanjiro spoke up.

"We were resting… in the home of a demon that doesn't eat humans."

Everyone but the ones aware of that turned to him, clearly ready to say something.

"Oh, Tamayo-san, right?" Oyakata-sama asked, his ever present calm smile still present even when everyone suddenly turned his eyes towards him.

"You know Tamayo-san?" The Kamado asked with wide eyes.

"Not personally but I do know of her." Kagaya answered. "My family has a bit of history with her; this goes back a long time but, to summarize, a member of the corps happened to meet her one day and told the head at the time; this information was kept secret, with only members of the Ubuyashiki family ever learning about this."

"Oyakata-sama, why not reveal this information? A demon that old… we should hunt it down immediately; who knows how many people it has eaten?" Iguro exclaimed.

"Tamayo-san doesn't eat humans, she found a way to live without having to do that and is working on a cure for demons." The Kamado quickly spoke up.

"You expect us to believe that?" Sanemi said next, standing up, one hand on his sword. "Tell us where that demon is right now or I'll beat the information out of you."

In response to the threat, Sabito stood up, his hand also moving to his sword.

_CLAP_

"You two." Himejima spoke up after loudly clapping his hands together. "You're in the presence of Oyakata-sama, behave."

The Water Pillar immediately let his hand go of the hilt of his weapon while Sanemi did the same a few seconds later.

"I can understand why this information would surprise you and why you would want to go after her but I assure you, there is no need." Kagaya continued to speak, unbothered by what just happened. "More importantly, you met her under unexpected circumstances, didn't you Tanjiro?"

"Eh, yes."

'Does he… does he know?' Instead of delving on that thought, Tanjiro decided to speak.

"I met her in Asakusa… after I ran into Kibutsuji Muzan."

For the second time, everyone suddenly stared at him.

"You ran into him?!"

"What did he look like?!"

"What abilities did he have?!"

This and many other questions were thrown his way until, once again, Oyakata-sama signaled for silence and everyone immediately complied.

"Tanjiro, please explain the circumstances of your encounter with both Tamayo-san and Kibutsuji Muzan."

"Yes!"

The Kamado explained to everyone what happened like he had told Sabito and the others the night before; he only let out the part about sparing Ito in Natagumo, at the behest of Sabito and Makomo.

"To answer some of your questions; I don't know where he might be now but, at the time, he looked like a man in his late twenties with really pale skin, black hair and red eyes… he was also pretending to be human, even having a wife and child."

"A what?!" Sanemi hissed.

"Are you sure his 'wife and child' weren't demons?" Shinobu asked, her smile gone from her face.

"They weren't… they were humans." Tanjiro confirmed. "I'm afraid I don't know anything else; like I explained before, he turned a man that was just passing by into a demon as a distraction and then escaped without showing any other abilities."

"Still, this is the first time in a long time that we have gotten so close; I don't want to let go of the tail that Kibutsuji has shown us." Kagaya added.

"Oyakata-sama." Iguro spoke.

"Yes, Obanai?"

"Even if he encountered Kibutsuji Muzan, I fail to see how that is reason to spare the demon he carries on his back."

"I agree, that is no reason to spare Nezuko." Kagaya nodded. "The letter, please." He signaled to one of his daughters.

"We received this letter from the former Pillar, Urokodaki Sakonji-sama; I will read an extract from it." She began. "'Please forgive Tanjiro for being with a demon; Nezuko has a tenacious spirit and she retains some human reasoning. Even when she's starving, she doesn't eat humans and she has stayed that way for more than two years. You may find this sudden and difficult to believe but this is the unmistaken truth. If by any chance Nezuko ever attacks someone, Kamado Tanjiro as well as I, Urokodaki Sakonji, Sabito, Makomo and Giyu will all cut our stomachs open as an apology.'"

"Eh?" Tanjiro looked up at that part, then moved his gaze to his three sibling disciples.

Giyu didn't show any sign of even noticing, Sabito looked at him from the corner of his eye and did a small shrug while Makomo turned a bit to see him and offered a small smile.

"Excuse me." Genya raised his hand. "That last part… I wish to add my name."

The Kamado turned to him and then looked down.

'Thank you.' Tears began to fall.

"So what?" Sanemi's words cut through his thoughts. "If they want to die then let them, there is no guarantee in this."

"Shinazugawa is correct!" Rengoku supported. "If she kills someone, nothing can be undone! The dead can't come back to life!"

"That is very true, they can't guarantee or prove that she won't attack people." Oyakata-sama agreed. "But, like Giyu said before, can you provide any evidence that she will?"

The ones that still opposed Nezuko's existence recoiled at those words.

"I believe that Nezuko has been living without eating anyone for two years and six people are putting their lives on the line for her; if you wish to deny this, then you will have to present something more than just words."

"…then we only need to prove that she will attack humans, correct?" Sanemi asked, getting up and turning towards the Water Pillar's group.

The five got up as well, although Genya couldn't meet his eyes.

"I'm not letting you attack her." Sabito said, moving forward and in front of the Wind Pillar.

"You attacked her for that 'test' of yours, didn't you?" The white haired man asked back. "I just want to perform a test of my own; if you really believe that she won't attack humans then there is no issue, is there?"

The Water Pillar groaned, not having an argument against it.

"It's alright, Sabito." Tanjiro spoke up, walking forward. "Nezuko will never attack humans." He declared, meeting the Shinzugawa's glare.

"Heh, so you're that confident?"

"If I see your sword moving anywhere near her neck, I'm stopping you." The Water Pillar moved one hand to his sword, partially unsheathing it.

"No problem." Sanemi unsheathed his own sword. "Now, let that box down."

Carefully, Tanjiro did as told, letting the box down in front of the Pillar.

"Shinazugawa." Iguro called out. "It won't work here, you need to get it out of the sun or it won't even come out."

"Oyakata-sama, forgive my rudeness." Before anyone could react, Sanemi had grabbed the box and moved below the roof of the porch where the sun didn't reach.

"Remember what I said." Sabito stood at the other side of the box, having followed him just a second after.

"My sword nowhere near her neck, right?" The Shinazugawa smiled an almost maniacal grin. "No problem!" In one motion, he stabbed through the box, the muffled yell showing that his sword made contact.

"Nezuko!" Tanjiro yelled and leaped forw- "Gugh!"

"Stay there for a bit." Iguro ordered, pressing down on his back with his elbow.

'This is… the same thing Makomo did back then during their test.' The Kamado realized.

And, like that time, it didn't matter.

He tried to use Total Concentration Breathing to move but the Snake Pillar continued to press on his lungs; unlike Makomo, he wasn't letting up or just hitting him to get the air out of him, he kept his elbow there and completely stopped him from breathing.

…

"Shina-"

"I'm not near her neck." Sanemi interrupted before retrieving his sword, some blood covering the end. "Get out demon, here is some of your favorite; human blood!" With those words, he made a cut in his own arm and let it fall on top of the hole he had just made in the box; then he stabbed again and swung the box open with his sword.

Sabito could only grit his teeth.

'He won't break his word, much less in front of Oyakata-sama, so I'm sure he won't kill Nezuko but…' His gaze went to the wound the swordsman had just inflicted on himself. 'His blood… please endure it, Nezuko.'

…

"Iguro-san." Makomo called out. "Let go of Tanjiro."

"If I do, how can I know he won't try anything?"

"Tanjiro." Instead of answering, she kneeled and spoke to the red haired teen. "Believe in Nezuko; I know you want to protect her but, right now, you can only believe in her."

Iguro let out slightly, just enough to let him talk.

"…sorry, Makomo." Tanjiro tried to get up only for Iguro to push him back down. 'I can't, I can't stay still when that is happening!' He continued to try to get up, ignoring his body's protests against it. 'And this scent… Genya's brother is a 'marechi'?!'

"Wha-?!" Obanai suddenly felt his arm being yanked upwards. "Tomioka!"

Using the opportunity, Tanjiro moved forward.

"Nezuko!"

…

'It hurts!' That's the first thing Nezuko thought when a sharp pain suddenly woke her up. 'What…?' She noticed a few drops of liquid falling through the hole made in the box. 'This scent!'

Her mouth started watering, the veins around her head bulged and her pupils became slits.

'Blood… human blood… rare human… no! I must not-ahhh!' She let out a scream when she felt a second stab before the door was flown open.

Making her body grow to normal size, she stared at the one that had just woken her up.

'This… person…' Her eyes went to his arm where blood continued to fall. 'Blood… want-no! Human… won't… attack… blood… want…' She didn't register what the white haired man was saying, only that he shoved his injured arm forward. 'Can't… won't… attack… want… blood… eat…'

"Nezuko!"

Her name, she did register, moving her eyes towards the source.

"It's alright." Tanjiro smiled. "Your big brother believes in you."

Nezuko's eyes widened before she looked back at the swordsman.

'Humans…' Thoughts of her family began to invade her mind. 'Protect humans… don't hurt them…' The scent of blood assaulted her nostrils once again. 'Don't ever, **_ever_**, hurt them!' Keeping an image of her family in her mind, she closed her eyes and looked away from the offered 'food'.

…

"Wha…" Sanemi recoiled as if being struck when Nezuko turned away.

"What happened?" Kagaya asked.

"The demon girl turned the other way." One of his daughters answered. "Even though Shinazugawa-sama cut himself, stabbed her and thrust his arm in front of her, she held back and didn't attack him."

"And that's proof that Nezuko will not attack humans, right there." Oyakata-sama concluded.

Five people let out a sigh of relief at this.

Sabito sheathed his sword and called out for the younger Kamado.

"Sorry, I couldn't do anything." He apologized.

"Hm, hm." Nezuko shook her head three times, her smile clear despite the muzzle.

The Water Pillar smiled back.

"Tanjiro; despite this, there will still probably be people who won't willingly accept Nezuko."

The red haired teen quickly moved back and kneeled in the ground.

"You have to just prove that, from this point on, you and Nezuko can be useful enough to fight with the demon hunters."

'What's this feeling? It feels soft… is this what Sabito and Makomo were talking about? His voice is strange.'

"Defeat the Twelve Demon Moons. If you do that, then everyone will acknowledge you and the gravity of your words will change, Tanjiro."

"I… Nezuko and I will defeat Kibutsuji Muzan! We will wield our swords and cut the chains of agony!"

"You can't defeat him as you are now, Tanjiro. So first, try and defeat one of the twelve moons."

Hearing the calm and matter-of-fact way he spoke, Tanjiro blushed in embarrassment at his declaration and muttered a 'yes, sir.'

'You can't laugh!' Mitsuri thought, holding back her laughter. 'Don't, don't.'

There were others that also tried to hold back their laughter, some that didn't find it funny and.

"Putting your mask on just gives it away, you know?" Makomo asked with a giggle.

Sabito, who had placed his mask on his face, didn't reply but his shoulders continued to shake for a few seconds.

"I believe you understand this due to your interactions with Sabito but the Pillars achieved their rank by training to the point they coughed blood and that's why they are to be treated with respect; you should also be careful about how you speak with them, Tanjiro."

"Y-yes, sir."

"Also; Sanemi, Obanai, don't bully the younger ones too much."

"…as you command." They answered.

"Now, I believe the matter about Tanjiro and Nezuko is settled; you are free to leave." He turned towards Ozaki and Kaigaku. "You two as well, thank you once again for coming."

The two bowed and moved to get up.

"One moment, please." Himejima spoke. "Could Kaigaku stay until the meeting is over? I wish to speak with him."

The Breath of Thunder practitioner seemed to flinch for a moment.

"Of course." He answered.

"Amane, please take him to a room where he can wait."

"Of course." She nodded.

"Uh, excuse me." Tanjiro raised his hand. "There is one more thing, it involves Tamayo-san." He looked through the pockets of his haori and took out the letter. "She told me to give this to you and that… no one else is to read it."

"I'm afraid that will be a bit difficult." He smiled, not at all bothered. "Would it be alright if Amane is the only other person to read it? I trust her with my life and I know she won't speak of the contents of that letter with anyone unless it is indicated otherwise."

"…yes, that's alright." The Kamado nodded after using his nose to get both of their scents. 'They really trust each other.' He couldn't help the small smile that formed.

Without a word, Amane approached Tanjiro and received the letter before guiding Kaigaku and Ozaki inside the mansion.

"Well then, anything else?"

"One more thing." Tanjiro pointed to Sanemi. "I have to head-butt him." He declared.

"…pardon?" Even Kagaya seemed surprised for a moment at that statement.

"For hurting Nezuko, I have to head-butt him; let me head-butt him just once."

"My apologies, Tanjiro." Oyakata-sama answered. "But could you let it go just this once? We still need to talk about a few things and I have a feeling that Sanemi wouldn't be able to participate for a few hours if you did that."

"What?" Sanemi asked, confused at the statement.

"…I promise to hold back so he doesn't black out."

"I don't think we'll get anything better than that." The Water Pillar shook his head with a grin.

The Wind Pillar glared in his direction.

"Even so, I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"But-ouch!"

"Contradicting Oyakata-sama after he gave his order is a bad idea." Muichiro said, throwing a few more rocks to his head.

"Even –ouch- so –ouch-… I won't head-butt him today but I will one day." The Kamado compromised.

"Pff, bring it whenever you want brat, but don't expect I'll just let you hit me." Sanemi scoffed.

"By the way." Shinobu raised her hand. "I'd like to give Tanjiro-kun a check-up about any injuries he may have and I also need to check Genya-kun is condition; could the two go to my Estate?"

"I can guide them there." Makomo chimed in.

"Very well; is that okay with you two?"

"I don't have a problem with it."

"Me neither."

Genya and Tanjiro answered in turn.

"Then, I wish you two a safe journey; until we meet again." Kagaya said; the three bowed before Tanjiro grabbed Nezuko is box and they all left.

* * *

At the entrance of the headquarters.

Tanjiro and Genya walked there after Makomo told them to go ahead since she needed to do something.

"You really surprised me when you suddenly bowed and thanked us." Genya commented as they walked.

"You put your lives on the line for Nezuko, it was the least I could do." Tanjiro answered. "I also have to thank Urokodaki-san, Sabito and Tomioka-san."

"Oh, hey you two." Ozaki called out from the gate.

"Ozaki-san." Tanjiro greeted back, then suddenly bowed. "Thank you so much for your words during the trial."

"And for not telling them about my… ability, at least until I got here." Genya added.

"Don't mention it." She waved her hand in a 'don't worry' fashion before turning serious. "Tanjiro"

"Yes?"

"I'll be honest; while I am inclined to believe in you, more so after what I just witnessed, thinking that demons that don't harm humans exist is… difficult." She explained with a frown. "I wanted to hear both of your stories before saying anything but… I can't say I have enough faith in your sister to do what Genya did and put my life at stake for her… with that said, I do hope you prove that everything you said was true."

"I understand." The Kamado nodded with a smile. "It's alright; Nezuko will never harm humans."

"I hope you're right."

"Excuse me, Ozaki-sama?" A Kakushi showed up. "I will be your guide back into town, I need to put this on you." He showed a blindfold and earplugs.

"Alright." She nodded. "Well, until we meet again."

Tanjiro and Genya nodded.

A minute later, the Kakushi had taken Ozaki away.

"I wonder where we are." Genya thought out loud. "A lot of trees are covering the area and that road is well maintained but it's probably hard to find the entrance."

"Probably." Tanjiro agreed. "I think I could catch the scent of this place now that we've been here once but… maybe they have a way to mask the scent as well?"

"Sorry for the wait." Makomo's voice interrupted. "I had to ask for a Kakushi to help me carry you two." She motioned to the Kakushi that was following her.

"My name is Goto, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise."

"Now then, please put this on and we will go to Shinobu's home."

"Alright." The two grabbed the blindfold and earplugs, and nose plugs in Tanjiro's case, and put them on.

After Goto made sure they were well placed, he put Genya on his back while Makomo did the same with Tanjiro.

"Here we go." With those words, Makomo began to run.

"W-wait! I can't go that fast." Goto called out, trying to catch up.

"Oh, sorry." Makomo apologized, slowing down to a pace he was able to match.

* * *

**And done!**

**Phew, this was _long_ overdue.**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**And, once again.**

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT**

**So, in case you don't read any of my other stories, I'll tell you now that I am a big TanKana fan and I have made the announcement for TanKana Week in twitter.**

**If you're interested, please check the account 'TanKana Estate ( TankanaW)' in twitter.**

**END OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT**

**Alright, I think that's it.**

**As always, I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to comment!**

**Until next time!**

**PS: Next chapter, Tanjiro and Kanao finally meet.**

**WOOHOO!**


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